iTKe Book of 




TICS 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
i^np. iupirig]^ !f 0. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 





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The Book of Athlhtics 



OUT-Ol'-DOOR SPORTS 



CONTAINING PRACTICAL ADVICE AND SUGGESTIONS FROM COI.LKCK 
TEAM-CAPTAINS AND OTIIF.R AMATICURS, ON KOOT-liALL, 
BASE-BALL, TENNIS, ROWING, GOLF", SPRINT- 
ING, BICYCLING, SWIMMING, SKAT- 
ING, YACHTING, ETC. 



NORMAN W. BINGHAM, Jr. 



ILLUSTRATED liV G. If. lUCKNELL AND OTHERS 



LOTHROP PUBLISHING COM)' 




^J'-^^' 



Copyright, 1895, 

BY 

LoTHROP Publishing Company. 



All rights reserved. 






^ 



<o\ 



TYPOGRAPHY BY C. J. 1-ETERS & SON, 



PRESSWORK BY ROCKWELL AND CHURCHILL, BOSTON, U.S.A. 



PREFACE. 



In compiling this " Book of Athletics," no at- 
tempt has been made to produce an exhaustive 
treatise on every branch of sport now popular 
with the boys and girls of America. The design 
has been, rather, to give to those who are 
interested in, and have some knowledge of, the 
principal out-of-door sports the benefit of the 
experience and observation of those who have 
spent considerable time in their pursuit. Discus- 
sions which would be intelliofible and of interest 
only to experts, as well as definitions and de- 
scriptions for the benefit of the wholly uninitiated, 
have been generally avoided. 

In the list of games, no pretence has been made 
of including all that are practised at the present 
time : the intention has been to include those 
which have a strong hold on popularity, such as 

5 



6 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

foot-ball, base-ball, rowing, tennis, cricket, swim- 
ming-, skating, and the like. 

Several forms of sport not properly included 
under the term " athletics," but which are emi- 
nently desirable for the recreative exercise they 
furnish, have been thought worthy of a place in 
a book which aims quite as much to awaken and 
increase a healthy interest in out-of-door life as 
to point the way to absolute excellence in com- 
petition. At the same time, it is felt that the 
advice offered by such authorities as Messrs. Ban- 
croft, Dwight, Cumnock, Bliss, Mapes, and others, 
cannot but be of interest to all lovers of sport. 

The descriptive article on " Knots, Hitches, and 
Splices " has been included as a valuable adjunct 
to the paper on " Yachting." 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Chapter. Pack. 

I. The Use and Abuse of Athletics g 

By the Editor. 

II. Advice to School Foot-Ball Captains .... 21 

By Arthur J. Cumnock. 

IIJ. Handling a College Nine 33 

By Lawrence T. Bliss. 

IV. Seven Good Rules for Base-Ball Plaveus to 

bear in Mind 40 

By W. S. Martin, Jr. 

V. A Sermon on Lawn Tennis 42 

By James Dwight. 

VI. How to train a Crew 56 

By William A. Bancroft. 

VII. Cricket as played in America 75 

By Ralph Cracknell. 

VIII. Golf: the Coming Game 88 

By Huc.h S. Hart. 

IX. About Bicvcles 9<i 

By Kirk Munroe. 

X. Running and Hurdling 107 

By Norman W. Bingham, Jr. 

7 



8 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Chapter. Page. 

XI. Hare and Hounds Runs 121 

By David W. Fenton, 2d. 

XII. Hints for Young Pedestrians 128 

Bv Charles M. Skinnek. 

XIII. OuT-OF-DooR Gymnastics 146 

By John Graham. 

XIV. How TO MAKE AN OUT-DoOR GYMNASIUM . . . . 156 

By William F. Garcelon. 

XV. Hints for Yachtsmen 164 

By Julius A. Palmer, Jr. 

XVI. The Art of Swimming 190 

By Harry E. Rose. 

XV n. Sport in the Water 203 

By Alexander Black. 

XVIII. A Cane Rush 225 

By Malcolm Townsend. 

XIX. Hurdling 238 

By Herbert Mai'es. 

XX. The Running Broad Jump 252 

By E. B. Bloss. 

XXI. Skating 259 

By Charles R. Talbot. 

XXII. Hand-in-Hand Skating 267 

By \V. G. Van T. Sutphen. 

XXIII. Knots, Hitches, and Splices 280 

By Charles R. Talbot. 

XXIV. Summer Sports 295 

By the Editor. 
Index 315 



THE USE AND ABUSE OF ATHLETICS. 

BY THE EDITOR. 

P VERY healthy boy Hkes to be out of doors ; and 
ahnost every boy is, at some period in his hfe, 
an enthusiast on the subject of athletics. Every 
sane man is ready to allow that a certain amount of 
out-door life and exercise is desirable, — a tonic to 
both mind and body, and, on the whole, quite essen- 
tial to a well-ordered existence. But on the value 
of competition, the grown men are hardly as ready 
to agree as are the boys. 

There are some, to be sure, who, bidding for 
popularity with youth, are ever willing to overlook 
excesses. With " Boys will be boys," or " Wel- 
lington's armies were trained on foot-ball fields," 
they meet all objections raised against athletics, and 
end by saying impressively, " Mens sana in cor pore 
Sana'' quite taking it for granted that the mens 
sana will be there any way. They talk as they 

9 



lO THE BOOK OF ATIII,ETICS. 

do because it is easier and pleasanter to let evils 
exist than to attempt to reform them. They should 
not, and I believe do not, enlist any great measure 
of respect from sensible boys. 

Then, there are the chronic grumblers, though 
luckily their number is small. These men, having 
forgotten that they were ever boys, or perhaps 
never having been real boys, fume and rant, and 
give you to understand that all time spent in the 
field or on the water is worse than wasted. Feel- 
ing themselves that, sooner or later, the world must 
look dark to every one, they would hurry the 
natural course of things by forcing boys and girls 
to wear smoked glasses. Their opposition to ath- 
letics is prejudiced, abusive, and often absurd. 
They are more deserving of pity than of anything 
else. 

But there is still another class of the older men 
who have the real welfare of the boys close at 
heart; by them the athletic craze which has pos- 
sessed the country during the past few years has 
been observed with no little apprehension. They 
shake their heads, and rightly, at the all-too- 
marked difference between the zeal with which the 
boy of to-day enters into his games, and the list- 



THE USE AND ABUSE OF ATHLETICS. I I 

lessness with which he performs the more serious 
tasks which his school duties bring him. They are 
not, hke the grumblers, hostile to all that is bright 
and pleasure-producing ; but they do realize that, 
when what should be a means becomes an end, 
something is going wrong. They find a boy in the 
class-room working out foot-ball problems on the 
fly-leaf of his algebra, looking at no part of the 
daily papers except the sporting-pages, sometimes 
almost deifying a favorite pitcher or half-back, and 
they wonder what the end of all this is going to 
be. They ask themselves if, on the whole, the 
good that comes from athletics is not more than 
outweighed by the evil ; and they do . not always 
find at once an easy answer to the question. 

Now, between those who enter into competition 
solely for the sake of winning a prize or a victory, 
and those who love the sport for its own sake, there 
has always been a distinction. The word " athlete" 
found its derivation in a name which was applied 
to those old Greeks who strove for prizes in the 
games. It was never used to designate those who 
daily practised in the gymnasium from love of ex- 
ercise pure and simple. The athlete of that time, 
however, did not think one quarter as much about 



12 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

the prize itself as about the olory that went with 
victory, which was very great. We have all read 
with some wonder of how a Greek town would 
make a breach in its walls at the home-coming of 
its victorious representative, and would erect a 
statue to his honor. But, after all, the esteem which 
is paid to some young athletes to-day is scarcely 
less extravagant, and, were we not used to hearing 
of it, might sound nearly as strange. 

What, then, it may be asked, is the justification, 
if any, for the intense interest in these games, and 
the spending of so much time and money in their 
pursuit? Do not the "highly competitive" sports, 
as compared with the lighter games and those 
out-of-door pursuits which are purely recreative, 
receive proportionately too great an amount of 
attention? Probably they do, and yet some of the 
benefits they bring with them are so undoubted 
that they cannot be lightly disregarded. 

The average American boy is of rather a high- 
strung and nervous temperament. He likes action ; 
he wishes to be doing something, and, quite nat- 
urally, prefers that something to be anything rather 
than real work. Very fortunately the greater part 
of his superfluous energy finds its escape through 



THE USE AND ABUSE OF ATHLETICS. 1 3 

his devotion to athletic sports. Fortunately, I say, 
for in thus harmlessly gratifying his appetite for 
excitement he involuntarily learns many a useful 
lesson. 

First of all, he learns, when he trains for a team, 
what it is to be subject to discipline. He readily 
and willingly imposes on himself many hardships, 
because he sees that they are necessary if he would 
succeed. He Is at an aee when there is soniethinQf 
which he can do as well as any one, even though 
that something is only athletics. For once he be- 
comes interested, and works with enthusiasm, — an 
enthusiasm which, if it is mistaken, must neverthe- 
less gain the respect even of those who see its 
folly. If this sometimes leads him into error, he 
should be set right, but not necessarily deprived 
of his sport. 

Perseverance, otherwise known as " sand," is an- 
other thing of which a boy soons learns the value. 
He sees that he must fight hard to the very enci, 
every time, if he is to accomplish anything. The 
"quitter" never amounts to much ; and this fact 
the boy who undertakes the practice of any form 
of athletics must quickly recognize. It is hard 
to see how this steady pegging away in the face of 



14 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

all discouraofements can fail to have its influence 
in making a more valuable lot of men. 

Aside from the effect on the disposition, there is 
of course the physical good which comes from 
regular exercise. It will probably be argued that 
the exercise could as well, or better, be taken with- 
out the strain of severe competition. This is per- 
fectly true ; and the only question is, Would it ? 
It is doubtful if, without the incentive of the com- 
petition, it would be possible to get anything like 
the nurhber of young men to take regular exercise 
that now do so. Once one has formed the habit, 
however, it is noticeable that he will generally 
arrange to spend a certain amount of time in 
the open air long after he has given up regular 
games and training. To know the blessedness of 
being in perfect condition is enough to make any 
one feel that, in training or out, it is worth while 
to take care of himself. 

And yet the evils which are charged to athletics 
are not all imaginary. Not even the warmest en- 
thusiast can claim that. The point which perhaps 
is responsible for the greatest number of strictures 
is the question of interference with studies or work, 
concerning which one hears a great deal of worth- 



V Co 




THE USE AND ABUSE OF ATHLETICS. 17 

less talk. It is easy, on one hand, to show that the 
hours occupied in getting to the grounds and back, 
and going through the daily training, are no more 
than every boy ought to spend in such a way ; and 
it is equally easy to turn around and point to 
numerous cases where boys do neglect their stud- 
ies for athletics. Considering the question calmly, 
it seems perfectly evident that, as a rule, the boys 
who take active part in any of the games do devote 
too much time to them. But this is because a great 
amount of time is wasted. Boys will linger about, 
long after they are through practising. They let 
their attention wander off to the field when other 
subjects have claims upon it. This is a bad habit, 
not alone from the standpoint of the instructor, but 
also from that of the athlete. "Over-training" is 
well known to result from mental as well as ph)si- 
cal causes ; and he who lets himself brood con- 
stantly over the games he is to play, or the races 
he is to run, will more than likely soon find himself 
growing "stale." It is perfectly possible to take 
part in athletics, and to do the rest of one's school 
work properly ; and when every boy who is a lover 
of out-of-door sports makes up his mind to demon- 
strate this statement, the objections will cease. 



1 8 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

The trickery and deceit which are countenanced 
in some eames — which, indeed, are sometimes 
considered a part of them — are all wrong. The 
games should breed manliness and generosity, not 
treachery and cunning. Yet we find that, in base- 
ball, boys who in most things are the soul of 
honesty will cut across from first to third base if 
the chance offers, will claim to have caught a ball 
" on the fly," which they know to have touched the 
ground, and will do many other things which are 
simply dishonest. There is certainly a danger that 
such loose standards may in time be applied to 
the rest of a boy's living. What is wanted is the 
nobler spirit of " fair play." 

Athletics, as they are, doubtless tend in many 
cases to distort a young boy's estimate of the de- 
sirability of physical as compared with intellectual 
and moral force. This tendency can best be coun- 
teracted by a determined effort on the part of the 
boys who have grown up. They must try to keep 
in touch with the younger generation, set things 
right where they go wrong, and, above all, prevent 
boys who lack stability of character from becoming 
leaders. 

Meanwhile, the tremendous and irrational excite- 



THE USE AND ABUSE OF ATHLETICS. I9 

ment which has been customary at the time of our 
more prominent athletic contests seems to have 
reached its Hmit, and already there are signs of 
a healthy reaction. The result of this reaction will 
doubtless be to force athletics to the field they 
should occupy — a systematic means of physical 
development. Incidentally, an increasing interest 
in sport for sport's sake may be aroused. As the 
number of spectators at a big game diminishes, 
so may the number of people exercising increase. 
Competition is a good thing, but it may be car- 
ried too far. Moderation seems to be what is 
most needed at present. 

What we have to look forward to, then, is not 
the arranging of more "championship" games, 
which draw from ten thousand to thirty thousand 
people to see them, but a more careful and more 
intelligent caring for the bodily welfare on the part 
of a larger number of people. Most men do not 
take as good care of themselves as they do of their 
dogs and horses. Athletics, rightly used, will tend 
to counteract this carelessness. 

It would be well if every boy were to set up for 
himself a standard of manhood to which he would 
like to attain. Let him remember that strength 



20 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

and power are the results of generations of temper- 
ance and right hving, and that in taking the best 
of care of himself a boy is, at least, doing his share 
toward the realization of a race of stronger men 
and more beautiful women. 



ADVICE TO SCHOOL FOOT-BALL 
CAPTAINS. 




BY ARTHUR J. CUMNOCK, 

Captain of ilie Harvard Foot-ball Teams of 1889 and 1890. 



^ HE average school, with small num- 
bers and only a few large boys to 
pick from, is at a disadvantage 
when pitted against one of the 
great schools, such as Exeter, 
-"'• - Andover, Groton, St. Marks, or 

Running and Warding Off. x -n n,* r.ill 

Lawrenceville. But m loot-ball, 
skill and spirit will take the place of weight and 
brute force every time. 

Every school captain is anxious to work, but per- 
haps does not know where to begin or how to 
develop his team. The game seems to be formi- 
dable and intricate at first, and one is apt to begin 
at the wrong end. Instead of planning " touch- 

21 



22 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

downs " and big scores, you must begin at the 
foundation ; you must creep before you can walk. 
On this foundation, so often neglected, everything 
depends ; without it you cannot hope for team play 
or success. 

In order to make clear what is meant by founda- 
tion, let us look at a few practical facts. 

A team cannot make ground against an equally 
good team, unless it can " block ; " and, vice versa, an 
eleven cannot stop an opponent from advancing 
the ball, unless it can get through and tackle. A 
team's offensive play depends almost entirely upon 
the accuracy with which the centre rush passes 
the ball to the quarter-back ; on the ability of the 
quarter to pick the ball up, however badly it may 
come back, and pass it accurately to the runner ; 
on the ability of the halves to run strongly, 
dodge, use the arm, and catch the ball ; on the 
blocking off of the team, and the runner's ability 
to take advantage of it. When a team is pressed 
to the last extremity, it depends upon a sure kick. 
A game has often been saved by a safe catch or 
a quick fall on the ball after a muff. 

These few examples will serve to show you that 
every movement in foot-ball depends directly upon 



ADVICE TO SCHOOL FOOT-BALL CAPTAINS. 23 

several details. Such details are what make up the 
foundation, and on their perfection depends good 
team play. 

I can best illustrate what is meant by " team 
play," and its relation to these details, by asking 




The Snap Bach. 

you to imagine a board in which eleven ink-wells 
have been imbedded. Pour ink into each of these 
wells. Then as you pour a little more into every 
one, they overflow their edges till the overflow of 
each meets the overflow of its neighbor, and the 
board is covered. If you should neglect to pour 
the " little more " into any well, the overflow of the 
others would have to cover its part, and the total 
covering would be just so much thinner. 

So when each boy on a foot-ball eleven conquers 



24 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

the duties of his own position, he can enlarge his 
sphere of action till he meets the rest of the team 
doing the same thing ; then the relations between 
the different positions can be perfected, one boy 
helping another, till the whole team takes a part in 
every play. The mastery of these details is often 
neglected ; and when the time comes for the eleven 
to exert itself as a unit, each player is so much oc- 
cupied in " filling his own well," that he cannot give 
any strength or attention to the rest of the team, 
but leaves it to the other ten. 

The aim of every captain is to have his team play 
as one man ; and this is evidently dependent on the 
strength and resources his players are able to give 
to a concentrated effort. So he may well study into 
everything that will tend toward this end. 

Every detail of foot-ball is a problem which may 
be solved by study. These details must be studied 
out of the field, however, and the solutions put to a 
test during practice games. To solve these difficul- 
ties on the field you will find is as perplexing as to 
learn an arithmetic or geometry lesson out there. 

Take, for instance, blocking and getting through. 
There are a great many ways of doing these things, 
and you cannot find them all out in a minute or 



ADVICE TO SCHOOL FOOT-BALL CAPTAINS. 25 

two ; you must live with them. Think out ways, 
invent new methods, and then try them. Do not 
make them too compHcated, and do not get dis- 
couraged because somethingf you thought was eood 
" doesn't work." No two boys 
are of the same size, strength, 
quickness, or mental capacity ; 
and what one boy can do well, 
another would find himself un- 
fitted for. Each boy's quali- 
ties must be studied into to 
get the best results. For in- 
stance, Newell, the old Har- j ■ 
vard p 1 a ye r, used to get """"^' 
through as well as, if not better than, any one in 
the country. Some one at Yale understood this, 
and invented a new way to stop him. Winter, who 
w^as his opponent, stood back a yard or two and let 
Newell start first. As he was going by. Winter 
and Bliss, a half-back who stood near, threw their 
weight on him from an angle, and either pushed 
him back or blocked him off. 

Tackling is only a knack, and can be studied as 
well as wrestling. For instance, S. V. R. Crosby, 
Harvard '91, an end-rush, could not tackle; and it 




i6 



THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 




Tackling. 



was almost Impossible to explain the way to do it. 
Finally a bag was hung up, on which was a projec- 
tion representing an arm, so he 
could not tackle high. 
This bag- was swuno- for 
Crosby to get the knack 
of ducking, taking hold, 
and throwing. He studied 
it all out, and in three or 
four days he tackled 
:v beautifully. 

Practice off the field 
will enable the cen- 
tre-rush to pass the ball correctly to the quarter 
every time. By passing for an hour a day during 
the summer, a quarter-back will find that he can 
handle a foot-ball as easily as he can a base-ball, 
and throw it as accurately. If he follows the ball, 
trying to get into imaginary plays when he is 
practising, in a regular game he will keep up with 
the ball, and be able to block off for the runner. 

A back's duties require skill and accuracy for 
every movement, and there is no limit to the possi- 
bilities of his position. He can work up kicking, 
catching, running with a ball, using his arm, and, 



ADVICE TO SCHOOL FOOT-HALL CAPTAINS. 29 

among many other things, how to take advantage 
of blocking off. 

During one whole summer, Everett Lake, the 
Harvard half-back, practised warding off tacklers 
with his arm. When autumn came he was one 
of the most difficult halves in the country to stop, 
because, in addition to his great weight and strength, 
the tackier was nearly always kept at arm's length. 

The kicking of Captain Trafford of the Harvard 
'91 and '92 elevens illustrated what study and hard 
work can do for a full-back. In July, in the sum- 
mer before he came to college, he could not drop- 
kick at all. Part of a week was spent in simply 
studying the way to make a drop-kick. He worked 
an hour or two every day during the summer ; and 
when he came to college in the fall, he could drop 
the ball from the thirty-five yard line between the 
goal-posts nearly every time. 

When a captain gets so that he is able to reason 
these details out, and when his team sees how easy 
it is for them to settle any difficulty by study, they 
are on the road to success. I know of a team 
that was said to have coached itself ; this simply 
means they played foot-ball not like so many ma- 
chines, but like thinking and reasoning beings. 



30 



THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 



During the practice game, when a misplay is 
discovered, do not blame tlie team without telHng 
them how to overcome it. Put them back in the 
positions they were in when it happened, and the 
trouble will soon appear. Then show them the way 
to prevent it ; and if you do not happen to know, do 
not be ashamed to study it out with them. 

The spirit of a team is another important element. 
An eleven going into a match with great skill and 
a thorough knowledge of the 
game possesses a confidence 
that is half the battle. In se- 
lecting the boys for your team, 
give preference to those who 

are honest hard workers ; "*^SSW^?' > 

avoid " stars," who save 





A Try for Goal. 



themselves from the regular team work for startling 
individual plays. A Harvard captain was once 
giving his last instructions to the team before a 
Yale game. Turning to the end-rushers he said. 



ADVICE TO SCHOOL FOOT-BALL CAPTAINS. 3 1 

" I shall hold you alone responsible for being down 
on the ball every time after a kick ; " when the 
centre-rush, whose duty it was to block, and who 
had little chance to do anything else, said, " I am 
croinof to be down there too." And he was. He 
did his own blocking, and was often down the field 
before the ends got there. That kind of spirit will 
win a victory every time. 

You will find, in executing the different plays 
and moves you may plan, that the matter of detail 
still occupies a prominent position. You may tell a 
player to go to a certain place; but to obtain the 
best results you must show him how he is to go, 
and what he is to do when he o-ets there. Make 

O 

your players start from the same positions in as 
many moves as you can, so that your opponent 
cannot tell what your plan of action is ; in this 
way you can pass quickly from one play to another 
without a change of position. Make each boy's 
duties simple, and have him do the same thing in 
as many moves as possible. Do not waste your 
time on complicated tricks ; team play is absolutely 
necessary for success. This comes from developing 
the players and their positions from the foundation 
up, and not from attempting intricate moves with 



32 



THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 



boys who do not understand the rudiments of the 
game. 

Make your signals simple, easy to be remem- 
bered, and at the same time effective. A com- 
plicated code of signals will puzzle your own 
side, when excited, quite as much as it does your 
opponents. 

In conclusion, study the details of each posi- 
tion of your eleven, and develop your players so 
they may have resources at their 

command. jMlv^r' {^^ Show them the re- 

o n s be- 
tween the 




Falling on a Muff. 

different positions, and teach them to play into 
each other's hands. Your reward will be that in 
every movement, from making a hole to stopping 
an end play, you will have eleven players concen- 
trated, who know how to play together for the 
same end. 

This is a hard kind of a team to beat, for they 
make few misplays themselves, and know how to 
take advantage of their opponents' errors. 



HANDLING A COLLEGE NINE. 



BY LAWRENCE T. BLISS, 

Captain of the Yale Base-ball Team of 1S93. 

COR the last few years the game of 
base-ball, in colleo-es and iiniver- 



fj sities, has lost much of its popu- 
larity, and has given way to foot- 
ball, which, as now played, is prac- 
tically a new game. 

The reason is that base-ball is 
more or less in the hands of pro- 
fessionals, while foot-ball is as yet 
entirely free from what one would 
call " professionalism." 
This article is written from a college point of 
view, and is designed to tell the young base-ball 
enthusiasts something concerning the handling and 
training of a base-ball team in one of our Ameri- 
can colleges. 

As soon as the foot-ball season is over, the cap- 




Hip Exercise. 



34 



THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 




Knee Exercise. 



tain and manager of the base-ball team decide as 
to their plans for the coming season. These include 
the number of games that shall 
be scheduled away from home, 
and also the home games, plan- 
ning for the Easter trip, obtain- 
ing a competent man to coach 
the candidates for pitcher, and 
many other minor details that 
scarcely need mention here. 
No regular training is com- 
menced until about the first of February, when 
all candidates are requested to present themselves 
at the gymnasium. 

The first training is an av- 
erage daily afternoon run of 
from a mile and a half to 
two miles ; after this the can- 
didates go to the " cage." 
In this building the candi- 
dates assemble, and go 
through a variety of move- 
ments designed to limber up 
the muscles ; these exercises include moving the 
body up and down, keeping the back straight, and 




Bach Exercise. 



HANDLING A COLLEGE NINE. 



35 




The Pitcher. 



bending the knees ; then, bending the back from 

the hips, with arms straight out from 

the shoulders, and trying to touch the 

ground without bending the knees ; 

raising one's self on tiptoes, revolv- 
ing the arms in a circle in front of 

the chest, first in one direction, then 

the opposite ; and finally, with hands 

on hips, moving the body from one 

side to the other. 

On Wednesday and Saturday after- 
noons, these being half-holidays, the 

trainino- work commences earlier. Before taking 

the accustomed run, a few 
grounders are knocked to 
each man, the benefit being 
very great, as it teaches a 
player to handle himself 
well, even though he is 
an outfielder. Outfielders 
have quite a number of 
grounders to stop during 
the season, and many 
games have been lost 

through the inability of some of the men to stop 




The Catcher in Armor. 



36 



THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 




such balls. This practice also limbers the player's 
throwing arm, as he throws nearly the length of 
the cage. It is also a great help to 
a captain, as it is the only way in 
which he is able to test, weed out, 
and get rid of some of his superfluous 
material. For these reasons, too, it is 
well to practise picking up grounders 
even in a gymnasium with a wooden 
floor, if a school team is deprived of 
the advantaofes of a ca^e. 

When the number of candidates is 
reduced a little, and the days grow 
longer, the Wednesday and Saturday afternoon 
practice is taken up daily, and base sliding is 
added. 

Base sliding on the hard ground in the cage 
requires a good deal of nerve for a man who has 
never slid head first before. Even if he has the 
required nerve, he is often liable to injure him- 
self. For this reason Mr. Stagg, a former captain 
of the Yale base-ball team, invented a sliding 
machine, which consists of a wooden frame with 
a heavy piece of carpet stretched tight across it. 
This is so placed that the carpet rests upon the 



Watching Bases. 



HANDLINC; A COLLEGE NINE. 



Z1 



ofround. After a few lessons on this, the new men 
slide on the orround without fear of beine hurt. 

About the first of March the coach arrives, 
and takes charge of the pitchers, 
A colleofe team should have four 
pitchers. Two of them should be 
first-class ones, and the other two 
above the average. It is always 
a good thing to have an eye on 
the future in selecting and coach- 
ing pitchers; for a college, sooner 
or later, has to lose its star play- 
ers, as graduation day comes 
around and the senior is no 
longer an undergraduate. 

There are many different opinions in regard to 
the advantaofes and disadvantages of usine a cagfe 
to practise batting in. It has many disadvantages 
for this particular use. The light is apt to be very 
poor ; the space too small. Because of these two 
drawbacks the eye is compelled to follow the ball in 
an enclosure with a backoi'ound. When he is in the 
open field the player will find what a difference this 
makes. A good example of these disadvantages 
was seen in the Harvards' heavy batting team of 




The First Baseman. 



38 



THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 



1 89 1. They did not use the cage to practise bat- 
ting in, although they have an excellent one. 

But, on the other hand, this cage practice is ex- 
cellent in giving a man batting form, and practice 
in swinging the bat. The cage is invaluable also 
for battery practice. 

It is very seldom that a team can obtain more 
than a week's out-door practice before the Easter 
trip ; so by the end of March, 
which is the time that the Easter 
trip commences, the team is very 
rusty. About fifteen or sixteen 
men are taken on the trip, and 
a game is arranged for every 





Sliding for Base. 

day. These games, as a rule, are against profes- 
sionals. After a week's play the team returns 
home, and plays two or three games a week dur- 
ing the remainder of the season. The work at 
the field every afternoon, except when a game is 
scheduled, consists of an hour's batting and a half- 



HANDLING A COLLEGE NINE. 39 

hour's fielding, a little base sliding, and fifteen or 
twenty minutes' team practice. 

It might be well to say a few words here concern- 
ine table diet when trainingr for base-ball. The old 
custom was to feed the different athletic teams on 
nothing but rare beef and potatoes. Now, how- 
ever, the bill of fare consists of wholesome food 
with quite a variety. For breakfast we have fruit, 
oatmeal, steak, omelet, and potatoes ; for lunch, 
steak, cold beef or chicken, and potatoes ; for din- 
ner we have soup, chicken, beef, mashed potatoes, 
pease or corn, and tomatoes, with bread, tapioca or 
custard pudding for dessert, and twice a week we 
have ice-cream. Toast is served at every meal ; 
oatmeal water and milk to drink. The potatoes 
are cooked in nearly every style except fried. 
Hashed and browned is generally the favorite way. 
So, you see, training is not starving. 

This brief statement of training, though referring 
to college base-ball work, may also be of sugges- 
tion and use to boys who are going in for a course 
in base-ball, and wish to make their home club 
strong and successful players. 



SEVEN GOOD RULES FOR BASE-BALL 
PLAYERS TO BEAR IN MIND. 

BY W. S. MARTIN, JR. 

Captaiti of the Tufts College Base-ball Team of 1893. 

/^NE. — Base runners must always remember and 
^^ turn to the right of the foul line in returning 
to first, when they have overrun that base. 

Two. — Batters should run whenever they touch 
the ball, or whenever they have struck three times 
and missed it. No matter if two men are out, you 
may not be the third one if you run well. 

Three. — It would be well for young players 
to remember and keep a base runner on the third 
base, if the opposing catcher is weak up under the 
bat. or if the opponent's pitcher is wild. 

Four. — To be a good batter you must stand up 
to the plate fearlessly, and the ball must be met by 
the weight of the body instead of the swing of the 

40 



SEVEN GOOD RULES FOR BASE-BALL PLAYERS. 4 1 

arms. This can be done by resting on one leg, so 
that you can easily step forward to meet the coming 
ball. 

Five. — Infielders should always run out to help 
the outfielders, on the throw in of a hard-batted 
ball. This may save a run. 

Sl\. — Always play for the advancing man. If 
there is a man on first, the ball when hit should be 
played to second and then to first base. If there 
is a man on first and second, the ball should go to 
the third base, and then to second. 

Seven. — Captains should always strive to per- 
fect their team play. It is what wins games. 
Coach your third baseman to try for all balls batted 
down that way, and have him backed up by the 
short-stop. Have the second baseman always back 
up your first baseman, and see that your second 
baseman and short-stop assist each other. 



A SERMON ON LAWN TENNIS. 

BY JAMES DWIGHT. 

T AWN TENNIS is a curious game. It simply 
consists in hitting- a ball over a net and back 
again. Nothing else, except that you try to hit it 
as hard as you safely can, and to put it out of your 
opponent's reach. It sounds easy enough, and yet 
think how few can play well. You see people play 
for years, and play very little better at the end. 
This would be right and natural enough if they 
took no real interest in the game, but many of 
them do. 

In other games and sports it is not so. There 
seems to be no game that so many play and so few 
play well. Any ordinary man can learn to row, 
respectably at least, if he gives several years to it. 
Almost any boy can learn to play base-ball. Most 
men with practice can learn to shoot pretty straight. 

And so on ; but with lawn tennis it is different. 

42 



A SERMON ON LAWN TENNIS. 4^^ 

There the multitude are "duffers;" and " duffers " 
they remain all their lives. It is a few only who 
come forward out of the ranks. 

Why should this be so ? For many reasons ; the 
game is not as easy as it looks. It is easy enough 
to hit the ball gently out of your hand over the net 
into some part of the opposite court, but it is not 
so easy to hit it hard and keep it in court. It has 
to go very close to the net to do that. Then again, 
it is not enough to hit it into any part of the court ; 
it must be placed in some particular spot to gain 
any advantage. It may be necessary to place it 
within a few inches of the side line. On top of all 
this, you may have to run at the top of your speed 
to reach the ball at all. 

All this does not sound so easy. Yet there is 
something more, the faculty of playing the right 
stroke every time. It comes to a very few men 
as an instinct. It comes to a larger number as the 
result of years of thought and practice. To the 
immense majority it never comes at all ; in fact, 
they do not know that such a faculty exists. Even 
now we have not sfot throuofh with the difficulties 
of the game. Running about the court is not easy 
work. The distance of each man is not great, nor 



44 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

need the speed always be high ; but you must start 
very quickly, almost, in fact, before you are sure 
where the ball is coming. It is really a succession 
of jumps, rather than a steady run. For this you 
need great quickness and agility, and, beyond all, 
great endurance. In other words, the game needs 
young men in good condition to play it well. On 
the other hand, it requires judgment and experi- 
ence that usually come only later in life. 

Such are some of the difficulties of the game ; and 
one does not wonder, as he thinks of them, that the 
game is not better played. Why, then, some one 
will ask, is the game so popular ? Why do so 
many play it, if they know that they can never play 
it well? Because the " duffers" have just as good 
a time as the " cracks." Sometimes I think that 
they have a better time even, for with them it is 
all play ; with the better players it is serious work. 

I remember well the first time I ever played the 
game. It was at Nahant, in the summer of '74. 
A set of lawn tennis had been brought over from 
England early in the summer ; but we had taken 
no interest in it — too little, indeed, to try it. At 
length one day we put up the net, marked out a 
rude court, and started, more in jest than earnest. 



A SERMON ON LAWN TENNIS. 



45 



In a few moments we were playing in earnest 
indeed. There was all the feeling of personal an- 
tagonism which is to me one of the great attractions 
of the game. My first opponent was Mr. F. R. 
Sears, an elder brother of the ex-chanipion. I re- 
member that each won a game, and that in the after- 
noon we pla)'ed in 
the rain in rubber 
coats a n d boots. 
How odd it would 
look now ! 

Of course we 
could not play 
much, but the in- 
terest was just as 
great. I fancy that 
one reason for the 
great popularity of 
the game lies in 
the fact that )ou do n4)t need to play well to have 
a good time. You need only an opponent of 
about your own strength, so that there may be a 
continual struggle for the mastery. For this very 
reason, two players are apt to get into the habit 
of always playing together, and they naturally im- 




Playing the Right Strohe. 



46 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

prove very slowly. Often they see no good play, 
they have the same ideas about the game as when 
they started, they have the same faults, because 
they know no better. 

I look to see much better lawn tennis in the 
future than exists at present. The game has been 
generally known about a dozen years ; and it was 
first taken up largely by grown men, who had 
played rackets, or base-ball, or cricket. They 
learned all -they could with no one to teach them, 
comparatively soon, and before this time have 
dropped out of active play because the exertion 
is beyond them. I am an example of the class 
myself; though I lasted longer than most, as I 
cared more for the game. 

Of course all this time boys were learning to 
play, but very few of them turned out well. They 
learned as they chose ; few of them wished for any 
teaching ; fewer got it. So for a long time the 
older men were in front. 

There has now come another change, and in the 
right direction. The interest in games of all kinds 
has increased so much, and so much attention is 
devoted to training boys in the preparatory schools 
and afterward in college, that we have not only a 



A SERMON ON LAWN TENNIS. 



47 



very large class of trained athletes, but boys have 

learned how important good "coaching" is. They 

go into the game more earnestly than they used. 

Owinqr to the larcje 

n u m b e r of tourna- _=.==7i"=?=rr,r.— W* f M'^^^^ 

ments, they see the 

best players, and they 

copy their styles. Each 

has s o m e one whom 

he looks up to as a 

model of what good 

play should be. 

Now, too, they play 
in tournaments them- 
selves ; and playing in 
public, they are more 
careful as to their 




With no Side Twist. 



faults and peculiarities than they used to be in 
private, for fear of seeming ridiculous. In this way 
they learn to play well at an earlier age than any 
class before them. Thus they have their agility 
and their knowledofe of the ofame at the same time. 
Heretofore I used to say that the trouble with the 
game \vas, that few had brains enough to play it 
properly until they got too old to play it at all. 



48 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

This, I think, is no longer true ; and the change 
is due to the improvement of the boys. For in- 
stance, I do not see any great improvement in the 
best players in the past few years, but among the 
middle-class players the improvement is enormous. 
They are largely young players, and are still im- 
proving. The number, too, of good players has 
increased very much ; and in the first class itself 
there are twice as many players as there were a 
few years ago. 

The practical part of all this discussion is, " Can 
we do anything to help the advancement of young 
players ? " Something we can do : we can encour- 
age tournaments between the different schools, etc. 
The interscholastic tournaments held at Harvard, 
Yale, and Princeton are good examples. If any one 
doubts the value of this system, let him look at the 
success of the foot-ball competition between the dif- 
ferent preparatory schools in training players for 
Harvard. Harvard has not won with them, but that 
is a different story. 

By giving tournaments, we help the boys in 
several ways. They get used to matches, a very 
necessary thing. They get interested in the game, 
and their ambition is aroused. They see good play 



Tt 




50 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

and good players ; and they meet every variety of 
style, instead of having their practice confined to 
playing against one or two players only. 

This is surely good. Can we now add any 
preaching that can be of use ? I hardly know ; I 
look on preaching with great disrespect. Few 
listen, few believe you, and fewer still take the 
trouble to try to put the teaching into practice. 
There are, however, some general instructions 
so simple that it would seem folly to write 
them, if it were not that they are constantly lost 
sipfht of. 

Take a boy at the beginning. Probably he can- 
not get one of the most expensive rackets. It 
really does not matter. Some of the cheaper ones 
are practically as good, but it matters a great deal 
what sort of a cheap one he gets. Let him get 
one of fourteen or fourteen and a quarter ounces, 
a little lighter in the head than most rackets are 
made. Have nothing fancy about it, no gold braid, 
no curious string-ino-, no fluted handle. It needs 
to be well balanced and well strung, and that is 
enough. As to flannels and shoes, there is nothing 
to be said, except that the shoe should be comfort- 
able and solid enouo-h to hold the foot together. 



A SERMON ON lAWN TENNIS. 5 1 

else there is a oood deal of danger of strainingf the 
foot. 

As to balls, I do not know what to say. Balls 
are very expensive, and last a very short time. A 
boy cannot expect to have new balls every day ; and 
if he is in earnest, and does not mind taking- trouble 
in order to learn, the best thing that he can do is 
to practise with two or three balls only. They will 
need a good deal of chasing, but he will always 
have them in good condition. If he brings out a 
boxful, they will all suffer more or less the first day, 
and he will have to use poor balls till he can get 
another box. It is a orreat mistake to use uncov- 
ered balls or last year's balls. Neither are of the 
slightest use. 

No advice can be given about courts. One must 
play on the best available. 

To begin with, the player may make up his 
mind that it will take a long time to play even 
tolerably well. The first thing to do is to learn 
to hit the ball straight — that is, with no side twist. 
The ball should go directly down the court. If the 
player stands on the central line, the ball should 
drop on the central line on the other side of the 
net. This is the very essence of a good stroke. 



52 



THE BOOK OF ATHLE'RCS. 



If you can play straight, you can tell where the ball 
is going. If you have a curve on it, you will be 
constantly hitting out of court on the side, or else 
bringing the ball into the middle of the court when 

you intended it to go down 
the side line. 

Next in importance is the 
lenorth of the court. You 
must learn to hit from one 
base line to the other ; that 
is, to hit from the back of 
your own court and make the 
ball drop about a yard from 
the other base line. A mo- 
ment's thought will show that 
if the ball goes only as far as 
the service line, your oppo- 
nent can easily come forward 
to volley. 

These two points are the foundation of the game. 
As to the service, don't bother about it. A very 
fast service is terrible to bad players ; but good ones 
return it easily. Wait till you play fairly well before 
you try for a very fast service. Next comes the vol- 
ley. Wait till you have brought the ground strokes 




A Girl " Champion. 




"A fiest in the Game. 



A SERMON ON LAWN TENNIS. 55 

under control before you begin to practise much 
volleying. When you do begin, keep one point 
clearly in mind: you must always hit the ball. You 
must not let it hit your racket. The only exception 
is when you are close to the net ; then you may 
block the ball, if your opponent is far back. Don't 
try any wild " smashing." Hit quietly, but always 
hard. As a principle, never hit a ball easy ; always 
make a real stroke. One word more. Don't play 
very long at a time. Three or four sets are enough. 
Always play with a better player if you can, and 
take odds enouofh to make him work as hard as he 
can. 

Win quietly ; lose quietly, and don't get angry. 



HOW TO TRAIN A CREW. 

BY WILLIAM A. BANCROFT, 

Captain of the Harvard Crews of I'i-jb to 1879. 

BEFORE training comes the selection of men. 
Too o-reat care cannot be taken that the 
members of a crew are, first, physically sound ; and, 
second, anatomically fitted for rowing. Men whose 
organs are unsound, not only are likely to suffer 
themselves, but, when they break down, new men 
are taken in their places, and there is lost the uni- 
son of a crew — the result of weeks of preparation. 
The work must be done over, if there is time. If 
not, the crew is weakened to that extent. Men 
should have a suitable stature and suitable propor- 
tions. Men too tall or too short, men with ex- 
tremely long or short arms or legs, conform only 
with great difficulty, if at all, to the movements of 
the rest of the crew. Men from five feet eight 
inches to six feet in height, and weighing, without 
clothing, from one hundred and fifty to one hundred 



HOW TO TRAIN A CREW. 



57 



and eighty-five pounds when in racing- condition, 
are generally the best. Thert; is, of course, great 
choice in fibre. Some consideration also should l^e 
given to temperament and disposition. A man 
should have resolution, spirit, good judgment, amia- 
bility, and equanimity. A good crew must be essen- 
tially harmonious, and this involves adaptability on 
the part of all of its 
members to each other. 
Boat-racinof should not 
be undertaken, as a rule, 
by those under seven- 
teen years of age ; and 
it \vould be safer to be- 
Cfin at eighteen or even 
nineteen. The sport is a violent one, and is likely 
to be too exacting for persons in mid-youth. The 
organs are not then sufficiently powerful ; and an 
arrested development, even if nothing more seri- 
ous, may result. 

Training involves the amounts and kinds of 
exercise, food and drink, sleep and bathing for the 
body, besides the occupation of the mind and its 
discipline. 

And first of exercise: — 




'On the Machine." 



58 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

If the persons selected have the time at their dis- 
posal, it is always better, before beginning to row, to 
practise for a week or two several forms of exercise, 
for the purpose of strengthening certain muscles of 
the back and legs, as well as the wrist muscles, and 
to get the heart and lungs accustomed to greater 
activity. As the crew, which at this time should 
contain at least two more men than the number of 
oars to be pulled, must conform to the powers of its 
weakest member, and as it is not prudent to begin 
by taking a large amount of exercise, at first not 
over twenty minutes ought to be spent on gymna- 
sium apparatus and in calisthenic exercises, and not 
over a mile ought to be covered in walking and 
running, three-quarters of which should be walk- 
ing. This exercise ought to be gradually increased 
until thirty-five or forty minutes are spent in the 
gymnasium, and a run of a mile and a half at a pace 
of seven or eight miles an hour is taken. 

The gymnasium exercises should consist of work 
on vertical bars, on wrist weights, to some extent on 
arm and chest weights, and in doing the military 
"setting up" exercises, such as are now prescribed 
for the army of the United States, especially the 
exercise which consists in lowering and raising the 



HOW TO TRAIN A CREW. 



50 



body b}' bending the legs at the knees, or " squat- 
ting," The gymnasium exercises ought to be done 
by all together at the word of command, both for 
the sake of acquiring uniformity of movement, and 
also of acquiring a habit of obedience. A crew is 
a machine. Its parts must fit each other, and the 
whole must start and move and stop as directed. 




The " Setting-up " Motion. 

These gymnasium exercises for the first two or 
three years of rowing should be kept up daily, until 
within about six weeks of a race, usually from ten to 
fifteen minutes being given to them, even after the 
actual rowinor has be^nm ; and the runs should be 



6o THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

kept up until nearly as late a date. During the six 
weeks or thereabouts immediately preceding a race, 
a smart walk of a mile or more, according to the 
time available, ouo-ht to be substituted for the ex- 
ercises and the running. For students and those 
whose vocations are sedentary, it is a good plan to 
take the walk immediately upon rising, and, while 
perspiring, follow it with a quick shower or plunge 
bath, and a rub-down before breakfast. If there is 
time, instead of this, a longer walk at a less rapid 
pace may be taken during the day. Overdoing, 
however, is to be avoided. What a given crew can 
do must be learned by experience ; and individuals 
should be relieved, if it is found that they are doing 
too much. Especially as the day of the race ap- 
proaches, care should be taken that no one is over- 
trained. If there is doubt, a given exercise had 
best be omitted. 

The food should consist of meat and fish, veo-eta- 
bles, light puddings, and fruit ; the drink of pure 
water, and good milk if wanted. Pastry, confec- 
tions, alcoholic drinks, and tobacco should be 
prohibited. The food should be abundant and 
wholesome. Steaks, chops, or broiled chicken, with 
fish for breakfast ; soup, fish, and a roast for dinner 



now TO TRAIN A CREW. 63 

in the middle of the day ; and a cold roast or break- 
fast dishes for supper. The roasts should not be 
overdone, but should be suitably cooked so as to 
retain the juices. The best of vegetables should be 
selected, and fruit in its season. The bread should 
be neither too fresh nor too stale. In short, all these 
articles of food should be prepared as they are at 
a first-class hote'l. The best of good, wholesome 
food, and that in abundance, is needed. There 
ought to be no regret if weight is not lost, provided 
each man does his share of the work in the boat. 
Good food and plent)' of exercise strengthen the 
muscles ; and if this process is going on, an increase 
in weiofht is of little moment. 

The oarsman should have all the sleep he wants; 
and between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five 
he will need about nine hours in bed, if he does 
honest work in the boat. He should sleep in a 
well- ventilated room, and on a hair mattress and 
pillow, with no more covering than is necessary for 
warmth, and this will not be much. His sleep 
should be taken at regular hours. Besides the 
morning bath, one other cold bath daily may be 
taken after the row, or after the harder row if there 
are two; but the bath must be taken while perspi- 



64 TfHfi BOOK OF ATHLETICS, 

ration is going on, that is, at once after the row is 
done. The bath should not be prolonged, and 
should be followed by a vigorous rubbing down 
with a dry towel. This rubbing may advantage- 
ously be followed by another rubbing of the 
limbs by the hands of an attendant, whose hands 
are moistened with spirits for the purpose. Care, 
however, should be taken to do the rubbing in a 
room sufficiently warm and free from draughts to 
avoid taking cold. If, for any reason, the oarsman 
has stopped perspiring before taking a bath, the 
bath should be in warm water. 

The mind should have a rational occupation. 
Freedom from extraordinary care or unusual excite- 
ment should be insured. Regularity of both bodily 
and mental habits should be observed. While in 
the boat the closest attention should be given by 
each man to his performance, and time enough 
should be taken when out of the boat to understand 
and to master what is required of him. If there is 
time, and the sole object in view is to win a race, 
much time may profitably be spent by every mem- 
ber of the crew in perfecting, by discussion or 
otherwise, the details of the stroke, or of the work 
of individuals, or of the crew as a whole. At all 



HOW TO TRAIN A CREW. . 65 

events, the mind should be kept healthy by the 
contemplation and the consideration of none but 
wholesome subjects. 

While there should be a regularity in matters 
of food, sleep, and habits, and, in general, in exer- 
cise, the latter should not be allowed to become 
irksome through its monotony. It is better to 
give up rowing occasionally for a day, and substi- 
tute some other exercise of a recreative character, 
or rest altogether ; and, if the preparation for a 
race lasts for six months, a vacation of a week 
ouofht to be taken when the time is half eone. 
But even then exercise ought not to be wholly 
abandoned ; and the rest of the requirements, those 
relating to food, drink, sleep, etc., should be 
observed. 

Few races ought to be undertaken, and none by 
new men, without at least three months of prepara- 
tion. By this is not meant that, after a race is ov^er, 
a man's habits may be radically changed. The 
true oarsman never essentially changes his habits. 
Unless his concerns prevent, he will always get 
plenty of sleep at regular hours, will eat nothing 
but the kinds of food described above, will not 
become a slave to any appetite, and will not give 



66 



THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 



up athletic exercise. Such a man will be, in a 
sense, always in condition ; without inconvenience, 
he will readily assume the more exacting obli- 
gations necessary to prepare for a race. A crew 
of such men may, of course, prepare for a contest 
in less than three months' time ; but even they will 
do well to give as long a period as three months, 

if the race is to be any but 
a very short one. 
'\ w^^^'^^ The stroke to be rowed 

will depend somewhat upon 
circumstances. If it should 
^..— happen that there be avail- 
able for the stroke oarsman 

Position of " Strolie." r .^ 11 

01 the crew, a man who has 
already acquired a smooth, symmetrical, regular, and 
effective movement, it may be expedient to teach 
the rest of the crew his stroke, no matter what the 
style. Good results have been obtained from such 
a course. Good crew shell-rowing, no matter what 
the style of stroke, has certain requirements. The 
shell must be rowed so that it vrill not roll from 
side to side ; so that it will not sink unnecessarily 
either at bow or stern, when the weight of the crew 
shifts as it is moved with the seats. The oar-blades 




HOW TO TRAIN A CREW. 67 

must take the water on the " full reach " at the very 
farthest point to which tliey are carried, without 
" clipping " or rowing the first part of the stroke 
in the air. The)- must take the water also without 
" backing " it, or throwing it towards the bow. 
They must leave the water at the end of the stroke 
without "slivering," or pulling water up as they 
are taken out ; that is, the blades must take and 
leave the water so that the least possible retar- 
dation shall be given to the onward movement of 
the boat, or, as it is sometimes said, they must be 
put in and taken out " clean " and " smooth." 

After the blades are taken out of the water at the 
end of the stroke, they must be returned to the " full 
reach " again without touching the water ; for the 
friction of dragging them along the surface tends to 
hold the boat back. The blades, of course, ought 
to be dipped together, taken out together, feathered 
together at a uniform height, and turned again 
together for another stroke. Again, there should 
be uniformity of movement inside the boat ; indeed, 
unless there is such uniformit)', there is little likeli- 
hood of uniformity of movement outside. The 
backs, therefore, of a crew that rows well will 
always be parallel, the legs will move simultane- 



68 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

ously, and so will the seats, and the arms will be 
drawn in at the same time, the wrists dropped 
together at the finish of the stroke, the arms 
extended again at the same time, and the hands 
will be turned simultaneously on the full reach to 
begin the stroke. All these requirements are com- 
mon to good crew shell-rowing, and, when lacking, 
are indications of a faulty stroke. But none of these 
faults, however, may belong to any one of several 
crews, no two of which are rowing the same stroke. 
There may be good rowing, therefore, under various 
styles of stroke. Still, some one must be adopted. 
When no other stroke has been adopted, the fol- 
lowing may be used : Assuming the boat to be 
stationary and the oarsman to be at a " full reach," 
arms extended, back straightened from its lowest 
extremity and inclined, seat as far aft as it is 
intended to be moved, blade in the water turned for 
the stroke and just covered, the shoulders squared 
and held down and back, the neck and head in pro- 
longation of the back, the wrist of the hand next to 
the rowlock slightly convexed, and that hand resting 
diagonally upon the oar handle, the legs opened 
slightly, but symmetrically, enough to receive 
between the thighs the lower front part of the 



Mow to TRAIN A CREW. 69 

trunk, and the boat resting evenly upon the water, 
the stroke is begun by swaying the trunk l)ack as 
though pivoted at the seat until it has reached the 
vertical position, then the legs are straightened out 
with vigor, the seat moving back with the shoulders, 
the hands being kept at such a height that the blade 
will remain just covered, until the seat has been 
moved toward the bow to its limit, and the trunk has 
swung just a trifle beyond the vertical. The stroke 
is finished by drawing in the arms until the liands 
touch the body, when, by dropping them a bit, and, 
at the same time slighdy turning the wrist, the blade 
is taken out of the water. Care should be taken 
to keep the blade just covered in making this 
finish. To return to the 
"full reach" again the 
hands continue moving, 
and are shot out parallel 
with the surface of the 
water until the arms are 
straightened, the trunk is 

f. 1 1 1 1. '" Single Scull. 

swunof forward, and almost 

at the same time the seat is started aft, while the 
trunk continues to swing until everything gets to 
the " full reach " simultaneously and is ready to be- 




70 



THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 



gin another stroke. Nothing but practice, of course, 
and the assistance of an experienced " coach," will 
enable a crew to row smoothly, gracefully, and 
effectively the stroke here attempted to be de- 
scribed. The separate parts of the stroke are given 
as though they were independent movements, in- 
stead of forming, as they do, one continuous but 
complicated movement. At the beginning of the 
stroke, or at the " catch " as it is called, the shoul- 
ders should be driven back vigorously and rapidly, 
care being taken not to make the motion a jerky 
one by burying the oar-blade too deeply, and thus 
stopping the movement of the shoulders. At the 
finish the most difficult part of the movement to be 
acquired is a rapid " shoot" of the arms away from 
the body, without a jarring motion by which the 
hands are either sent down into the lap with a 
violent thump, or else the shoulders are brought 
forward with a jerk. The "catch" and the " shoot" 
give no little trouble to beginners; but, when once 
mastered by a crew, it is believed that, other things 
being equal, no stroke without them is so effective. 
Every motion must be such as to waste no energy. 
After the arms are shot out, the trunk, which scarcely 
stops in changing direction, should not be rushed 



HOW TO TRAIN A CREW. ^1 

towards the " full reach," but should follow at a rel- 
atively moderate pace the " shoot " of the arms. 
Especially, care should be taken not to let the trunk 
drop down on the " full reach " with a jar or thump, 
and pains should be taken to have the hands 
high enough as they approach the " full reach " to 
bring- the blade as close to the water as it can be 
brought, without "backing water," to begin the 
stroke. 

The tricks of watermanship, or of rowing the 
boat " on an even keel " as it is called, that is, 




/I Turn to Starboard. 



without its inclining either to port or starboard, 
can most of them be learned only by experience. 
It is a general rule, when the boat inclines to pon 
durinor the feather, for the starboard men to lower 
their hands and for the port men to raise theirs, 



72 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

and vice versa. If the boat rolls to port during 
the stroke, the port men must pry her over, done 
by lifting, as it were, their oar-handles, and vice 
versa. Every muscle should, of course, be trained 
to be under absolute control, so as to adjust itself 
to the various conditions of wind, wave, and cur- 
rent as they appear, to anticipate, and, by the 
necessary motions, to counteract their effect upon 
the "trim" of the boat. Power must be applied 
vigorously at one instant; at the next, it must be 
taken off so as to maintain the "beat" or rhythm 
of the stroke. 

It is best to teach a novice the motions of the 
trunk, legs, and arms upon a rowing-machine. 
The muscles are then accustomed to many of the 
requirements of the stroke, so that when, later, 
the beg-inner is seated in a boat, there is not so 
much to be learned at once. Before he is allowed 
to row with a crew, he should be taught first, in a 
pair-oared boat of sufficient steadiness not to roll, 
the proper method of handling an oar. From the 
pair-oar, the members of the crew should next be 
seated in a steady barge, and there be taught to 
row "together." Lastly, the shell should be 
entered. In the meantime, the way to lift boats, 



HOW TO TKAm A CREW. 73 

to carry them, to put tlicm into the water and to 
take them out should be taught ; also the way 
to get in and to get out of a boat ; the way to 
turn a boat without straining it, as well as how 
to "hold" it and to "back" it. A shell must be 
used with the (greatest of care, in order that its 
lines may be kept. 

In placing the crew in a boat, care should be 
taken to select for the stroke oarsman a man of 
quick motions, clear head, and self-possession, 
plucky, and of endurance. He should be able 
to set a long stroke, the pace of which he can 
regulate without throwing the crew out of time, 
and he should have power enough to "drive" the 
rest of the crew in a spurt. The next man behintl 
the stroke oarsman should be a stronger man 
than he, and one who rows a stroke quite as long, 
and who can keep in perfect time with him. The 
weiofht of the crew should be so arranofed that 
the boat will never " trim down by the head," 
that is, sink lower in the bow than in the stern ; 
and, as nearly as possible, the strength of the men 
on one side should equal the strength of those 
on the other. 

There are two objects in training a crew — 



74 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

one to enable it to acquire an effective stroke, 
the other to enable its members to be in the very 
best physical condition at the hour of the race. 
The first consideration should always yield to the 
second. 



CRICKET AS PLAYED IN AMERICA. 

BY RALPH CRACKNELL. 

Of the Boston Athletic Association auJ Longwood Cricket Club. 

ENGLISH and American boys are pretty much 
the same kind of fellows in their love of out- 
door sports ; and in neither country does a boy get 
into knickerbockers, without beoinnine at once to 
learn to play ball. 

The very small bo)' is usually content to begin 
by playing " catch ; " that is, tossing the ball back 
and forth ; but it is only a short time before we find 
him trying to follow the example of the older boys, 
and play the national game — in America, base-ball; 
in England, cricket. 

And as soon as he becomes a pretty fair player, 
we find our boy joining some small clui) ; next, 
playing on his school team ; then on his college 
nine or eleven, and all the while going to see games 
between the best players of the great teams, study- 

75 



76 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

ing the fine points of the game, learning the science 
of play, and unconsciously getting the good health 
which comes from being in the open air, and which 
is likely to carry him through life. 

The difference between the games of the two 
countries, is, however, that cricket means much 
more to the English boy than base-ball does to the 
American. 

This follows naturally ; for while our American 
game has been in existence only about thirty-five 
years, cricket has been the English national sport 
for two centuries ; and where, with us, our best 
players of base-ball are men who make a business 
of playing, and are paid large salaries, in England 
the greatest cricket teams are made up very largely 
of amateurs, it beinof seldom that in one ofame more 
than two or three professional players will be found. 

It is this strictly amateur element of the game of 
cricket that has won, and kept for it, its popularity 
in England, where the hero of the hour in school, 
college, county, and international matches is the one 
who has made a big score, or broken through the 
defence of his opponents by skilful bowling. 

Many boys will be surprised to learn that the first 
game of cricket played in America, of which we 



CRICKET AS PLAVEI) IN AMERICA. 77 

have record, was between eleven colonists and an 
equal nuniber of Londoners, in 1751. and we take 
pleasure in recording the fact that the "cockneys" 
were beaten. 

In Boston, in 1809, the first organized club was 
started by a number of Englishmen, under the name 
of the Boston Cricket Club ; and just twenty-one 
years afterward the St. George's Club, of New 
York, was founded, and began the work of foster- 
ing and encouraging the progress of the game. 

Cricket is so little understood by the many to 
whom base-ball and tennis have been the princi|)al 
summer sports, that it may be well to give a brief 
outline of its objects, and the way it is played. 

A field as large as possible, in which the grass is 
kept as carefully clipped and level as a lawn, is the 
ideal cricket ground. Near the centre of the field, 
the pitch, as it is called, is selected, and the wickets 
are placed twenty-two yards apart, opposite and 
parallel to each other. 

It must be understood that the " pitch " alluded 
to is the space which corresponds to the space 
between the pitcher and catcher in base-ball. 

Each wicket consists of three round wooden 
sticks, called " stumps," which are driven into the 



7^ 



THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 



ground, and just near enough together to prevent 
the ball from passing between them, while their 
height must not exceed twenty-seven inches, and 
their total width, when ready for attack, not more 
than eipfht inches. 

On top of each wicket are placed two small sticks 

of wood, called " bails ; " and 
so lightly are they poised 
that at the slightest dis- 
turbance of the wicket they 
fall to the ground. 

The bowler's crease, cor- 
responding in base-ball to 
the pitcher's box, from be- 
hind which the ball must 
be bowled, is in line with 
the wicket. Another line, 
four feet from the wicket 
and parallel with it, is called 
the popping crease ; and the batsman, to be safe, 
must have some part of his body or his bat inside 
this line when the ball is in play. 

The bat used is made of willow, with a spliced 
handle, usually of cane. It is nearly flat, and not 
more than four^and a quarter inches wide, or more 




Ready for the Attack. 



CRICKET AS I'LAVEI) IX AMERICA. 79 

than thirty-eight inches long. The ball has a basis 
of cork, and is bound with leather, and weighs be- 
tween five and one-half and five and threcMjiiarlers 
ounces. 

A match is pla)'ed between two sides, of elev(Mi 
players each, unless otherwise agreed ; each side 
has two innings except in one-day matches, when 
one innings each decides the contest. 

The chance of innings is decided by tossing. 
The batting side sends two men to the wickets, and, 
as each man gets out, another replaces him until th(i 
whole side is out ; one man being " not out," be- 
cause by the rules of the game there must be a 
batsman at each wicket. 

The side which takes the field selects two bowlers, 
one of \vhom delivers four, five, or six balls as pre- 
viously arranged. 

The umpire, at the bowk^r's wicket, now calls, 
" over." The field then changes to suit the bowler 
from the opposite end, and he delivers the same 
number of balls, when " over" is calk-d by the other 
umpire, and the field changes again, and so on. 

The bowler's object is to hit the wicket ; or he 
is to bowl such a ball that the batsman hits it in the 
air, and is caught by a fielder, or is coaxed outside 



8o 



THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 



of the popping crease, when, missing the ball, the 
wicket is knocked down by the wicket keeper, who 
corresponds to the catcher in base-ball, and the 
batsman is stumped out. 

The batsman's object is to hit the ball through 
the fielders, or in such a location as to o-ive no 
chance for a catch, and score a run. A run is 




'How's that?" — Stumped Out. 



scored as often as the batsmen, after a hit, or at any 
time while the ball is in play, shall have crossed, 
and made eood their p^round, from end to end. If 
caught between the wickets while running, or if at 
any time the batsman while in play is out of his 
ground, and his wicket be struck down by the ball 
after touching any fieldsman, he is " run out." 
With a few minor rules added, this is the way 



CRICKET AS I'l.AVEI) IN AMERK A. 8 1 

in which the game is played in luigland and 
America. 

The placing of die field, wliich is done by the 
bowler or the captain of the team, requires the 
greatest judgment, so that the kind of ball delivered 
receives the support it should by the fielders when 
hit by the batsman. The field can be changed at 
an)' time ciuring an " over." 

The difterence between bowling and pitching is 
that the ball must not be thrown. 

The arm must be straight as it leaves the shoul- 
der. The bowler twists and curves the ball from 
the ground. The pitcher makes his curves, and 
shoots in the air. 

Returning to the history of cricket in America, 
we find that in 1855, with the formation of the 
Young America Club in Philadelphia, the game 
began to acquire an American individuality which 
has since marked the play of the followers of the 
game in the Quaker Cit\\ — the leading cricket city 
in America. It has been called the " hom(! of 
American cricket." Through the influence of the 
cricketers of that city, teams from England, Ire- 
land, and Australia have visited this country ; and 
each contest has marked the progress of the game 



82 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

in America, until, in 1891, the Philadelphians gained 
a brilliant victory over a strong- eleven of English 
cricketers, captained by Lord Hawke. A few years 
ago an eleven of university men from Ireland visited 
this country, and won one match with Philadelphia, 
and lost one, drawing a third. The Philadelphians, 
however, did not play in their best form, and prob- 
ably underrated their opponents, who had suffered 
defeat in Boston when playing twelve men against 
fifteen. 

At matches like those last mentioned, the attend- 
ance at the beautiful Manheim orrounds of the Ger- 
mantown Cricket Club, where the international 
contests are played, rivals that of an important 
match in England or Australia. In England the lar- 
gest attendance on record is at a match played last 
season between Surrey and Nottinghamshire, when, 
in the three days, seventy-eight thousand people 
passed through the gates. In Australia the record 
was made in a match between England and Aus- 
tralia, when sixty thousand people attended. At 
Manheim, during the three days' match with Lord 
Haw^ke's eleven, over twenty-five thousand people 
visited the grounds ; and the scene was as pictur- 
esque and as animated as can be witnessed at Lords 



CRICKET AS PLAVEI) IN AMERK:A. 



85 



when a univcrsit)- match, or the crack jjul^lic scliool 
match between Eton and Harrow, is being played. 

The patron or player of base-ball, accustomed to 
the bare-looking^ field, with its tawdry grand stand, 
and rows of uncomfortable wooden seats called 
" bleachers," would be agreeably surprised could he 
see the beauty and luxury which 
surround the game of cricket as 
played at Manheim. 

Skirting- the ground, drawn 
up in the welcome shade of 
tall, graceful trees, are coaches 
crowded with ladies in light cos- 
tumes, many wearing the colors 
of their favorite elevens. Inside 
these, and completely surround- 
inof the ground, is a black line 
of spectators ten and twelve 
deep, with here and there groups of old cricketers 
chatting of the past contests, and liberal])- applaud- 
ing any good play. In the; middle, is the arena 
where the battle is beinof fouyfht ; the white llan- 
nels of the men as they move over the green 
turf, the constant activity, the call to players, and 
the shouts of the audience, makinor ^ most ani- 




Bou'ler Delivering a Ball. 



86 



THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 



mated scene. To this, are added the beautiful 
paviUons, crowded from floor to roof. These in- 
clude : first, the great main pavilion, used for 
the members of the club, the players, and their 

friends ; second, the ladies' 
^^ pavilion, which is like a 
Newport cottage, and here 
will be found as interesting 
and delightful a gathering 
as ever graced with its pres- 
ence any afternoon tea at 
that fashionable summer resort 
by the sea. 

Last, but by no means least in 
importance, is the boys' pavilion ; 
and here is one of the chief fac- 
tors in making cricket in Phila- 
delphia so successful. 

Great pains are taken to en- 
courage boys to take up the 
game. They have this pavilion, and their owner- 
ship is marked by the sign of the " kid." 

The custom of Philadelphians in training up the 
youth to love the game of cricket, and to know its 
fine points, has placed that city in the front rank of 




Blocking a Twist from Leg. 



CRICKET AS PLAYED IN AMERICA. Sy 

the cricket cities in America. Boston has a q'ood 
club at Longwood, and several Americans pla)- the 
game there ; but cricket in New England is at pres- 
ent played principally by Englishmen. I'he same 
is true of New York, Chicago, and Detroit, and 
partly so of Baltimore and Pittsburg. 

Not until the schools and colleees of America 
take up the game will it become universally under- 
stood, and reach the popularity it has attained in 
other English-speaking countries. 

St. Paul's School, near Concord, N. H., has a 
beautiful cricket ground ; and tliere can be found 
the same interest, rivalry, and skill, as in a large 
English school. Haverford College and the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania have been the educational 
grounds of many of Philadelphia's famous cricketers. 
Harvard has struggled manfully to support an 
eleven, and Yale in some years has attempted to 
do so, but the interest is very slight. 

With its rank as an amateur sport, and its quali- 
ties of good nature, courtesy, and forbearance, which 
are necessary to make a true cricketer, and with its 
opportunity for exercise after more active games 
have been given up, cricket should, in America, 
receive the encouragement it can justly claim. 



GOLF: THE COMING GAME. 

BY HUGH S. HART. 

0/ the Xavier A thletic A ssociation. 

GOLF is the coming game. Already it has 
more than kept pace with its younger rivals; 
and, from a purely local Scotch game, has ex- 
tended its fascinations to every English-speaking 
community. 

That the international popularity of golf, wide- 
spread as it already is, will go on increasing, seems 
an assured fact, as it is based on certain unique 
characteristics, in which the grand old game has 
no rivals. 

In golfing, the mental, as well as the physical 
and muscular, qualities are called into full play. 
Like the surface of the ideal golf link, the game 
presents a series of perpetual changes. Difficulty 
after difficulty arises, which the player is called 
upon to surmount by cool judgment and prompt 



GOLF : THE COMING GAME. 



89 



action. The same complication ma)- never occnr 
twice in identical circumstances ; tlKM-c^fore the in- 
genuity, skill, and intelligence of the golfer have 
unlimited scope. 

Meanwhile, although the violent, intermitt('nt 
exercise, which renders base- 
ball, cricket, and foot-ball 
impracticable to all save 
veritable athletes, can al- 
ways be avoided in golf; 
the legs and arms are called 
into equable and invigorat- 
ing action. 

Unlike almost all other 
out-door games, golf can 
be played all the )'ear 
round. This is even 
possible during the 
winter months, as an 
admirable game can 
be insured upon the snow by the use of red 
balls. 

But its most generally appreciated peculiarity 
is, that it may include among its devotees five 
of Shakespeare's " Seven ages of man," from the 




A Long Stroke. 



90 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

immature schoolboy to the " lean and slippered 
pantaloon ; " while the girls, too, are afforded an 
equal opportunity to develop practical enthusiasm, 
if not proficiency. 

Almost the only indispensable requisite of a 
golf course is space. If a sufficient area is avail- 
able, the impracticability of the surface for other 
games is rather a recommendation ; all such irregu- 
larities and impediments are known as " bunkers." 
Without these, all would be literally flat, stale, and 
unprofitable to the chronic golfer, who estimates 
his enjoyment by the number of "hazards" such 
obstructions oblige him to play. 

The full course may be any distance from three 
to five miles, though a course half the size may 
be played round twice. Eighteen holes, from four 
and a half to five inches in depth and diameter, 
are cut in the turf at intervals, not necessarily 
equidistant, and kept in shape with a metal lining. 

The turf around each hole for about twenty 
yards must be perfectly level. These spaces are 
known as " putting greens," and are tended as so 
many gardens. In each hole is placed a long rod, 
surmounted by a flag, to indicate its locality ; but 
should the course be unusually undulating, addi- 



GOLF : THE COMING GAME, 



91 



teed " to- ,,m\\ 



tional "guide flags" are placed to mark the route 
from hole to hole. These flags should be of a 
uniform color for half the circuit, while those in- 
dicating the return route should be a distinct con- 
trast. 

Adjoining each "putting green," a small space 
within painted lines is 
reserved as a " teeing 
oTound." It is from this 
the ball is 

ward the next hole. To ,;j.^ 
facilitate the game, a 
box of sand is gener- 
ally placed within reach 
of the players ; and, from 
this, a bit of sand may 
be taken to elevate the 
ball slightly, and insure 
a clean and effective hit. 

The ball used is of solid rubber, about five 
inches in circumference. The orame commences 
by each side playing a ball from the teeing 
ground, where the start and finish of the course 
convero-e in the direction of the first hole. A 
side may consist of one or more players, and two 




Among the Bunkers. 



92 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

or more sides constitute a game. The hole is 
won by the side " hoHng its ball" in the fewest 
strokes. When the strokes are equal, the hole 
is divided. 

As the hole is approached by the leading player, 
the flagstaff is temporarily removed until the hole 
is scored. The ball is then struck from the adja- 
cent "teeing ground" in the direction of the sec- 
ond hole, and so on. In a match the partners 
strike alternately from the tees, and also during 
the play of the hole. 

The players who are to strike against each 
other should be named at starting, and continue 
in the same order. The side winning a hole lead? 
in starting for the next. This privilege is called 
the "honor." 

One round of the links (a round amounts gen- 
erally to eighteen holes in all) is a match, unless 
otherwise agreed upon. The match is won by 
the side which gets more holes ahead than re- 
main to be played, or by the side winning the 
last hole when the score is even at the previous 
one. 

When there is only one player on each side, the 
match is called a " singles." Two players on a side 



GOI.F : THE COMING GAME. 93 

constitute a " foursome." These are the two most 
common and popular forms of golf. 

What lends golf the variety and uncertainty 
which are its chief fascinations, is the diversified 
surface over which it is played. All obstructions, 
from scrub to stone walls, intercept the ball in its 
progress from hole to hole. As it cannot be 
handled, save in very excep- 
tional cases, it must be 
" played out" of the " bunker " 
or " hazard" which stopped its 
fliofht. To make the smallest 
number of strokes to release 
it, clubs in great va- 
riety are used. 

A moderate golf 
equipment is sup- ''''■" "" '^^^•'^^ 

Teeing with the Driver. 

posed to include the 

driver, long spoon, short spoon, brassy, driving 
iron, lofting iron, mashy, cleek, niblick, and putter. 
The first four and the last have wooden heads. 
The remainder are of iron. The driver is used 
for " teeing," and easy, long-distance strokes. The 
long spoon is used in high grass, and when ele- 
vation of the ball is desired. The "driving" and 




golf: the comi.\(; came. 95 

" lofting " irons serve as more powerful alternates. 
The short spoon is used for short drives, and when 
the pla)er stands below the level of the ball. The 
brassy, niblick, and cleek are tried in ver)- awkward 
" hazards." The " mashy " and " putter " come into 
play when on or near the " putting green." 



ABOUT BICYCLES. 

BY KIRK MUNROE. 

Founder of the League of A nierican Wheelmen. 

NEVER, since the beginning- of the world, have 
boys and girls been provided with so many 
opportunities for having good times, combined with 
healthful recreation, as in these days of what is 
truly called " the age of sports." Boating and 
canoeing on the water, tennis and bicycling on land, 
are as freely offered to girls as to boys, with base- 
ball, la crosse, cricket, and foot-ball, thrown in as 
extras for the latter. Of all these sports it seems to 
me that bicycling should rank first, not only for the 
pleasure that it gives, and the excellent exercise 
that it affords, but on account of the practical good 
that the bicycle is accomplishing. One of the chief 
needs of this great country is good roads. The 
value of a farm is doubled the moment it is con- 
nected with its nearest market town by a well mac- 

96 



ABOUT BICYCLES. 97 

adamized road. Not only this, l)ut all its products 
can be sold more cheaply to the dwellers in towns 
and cities. But very few people realized how bad 
our American roads were until they began to ride 
bicycles over them. Then they found out quickly 
enough ; and now every wheelman in the country is 
an advocate of crood roads. This beino- the case, I 
am sure that when the great and ever- increasing 
army of boy and girl riders of to-day become old 
enough to have a voice in public affairs, their very 
first demand will be for good roads for their bic)"cles 
throuofhout the leno-th and breadth of the land. 

There are many complaints made that bic\cles 
are ridden on sidewalks, and we see signs every- 
where forbidding this practice — that is, everywhere 
in the neighborhood of bad roads ; for where the 
roads are good the signs are not necessary. If the 
roads were as smooth and hard as the sidewalks, or 
even smoother and harder, as they should be, no 
bicycle rider would ever think of taking to the side- 
walks, or have the slightest desire to do so. With 
such roads as the Beacon Street extension running 
out of Boston, or many that exist in Brookline and 
the Newtons, or around Chestnut Hill Reservoir, or 
in Central Park and the New York boulevards, or in 



98 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

the Oranges of New Jersey, or in Fairmount Park of 
Philadelphia, or Druid Hill Park of Baltimore, or 
the streets of Washington, or the Chicago boule- 
vards, or the Cliff Drive in San Francisco, no 
wheelman has any inclination to ride on the side- 
walks, nor are any warning signs needed. Where, 
on the other hand, he comes to such disgraceful, 
rocky, sandy, and rutty roads as exist in and around 
most of the smaller cities and towns of the country, 
he must either give up riding entirely, or else take 
to the footpaths and sidewalks ; and in spite of the 
risk of arrest and fine thus incurred, he generally 
prefers to do the latter. 

In this connection I wish to suggest to all young 
bicycle riders that there is no time or place where 
politeness pays better than when you find yourself 
compelled by the state of the roads to share a foot- 
path with pedestrians. They have as good a right 
there as you have — probably a better one. Do 
not, then, attempt to pass them without warning and 
at full speed, or shout to them to " look out of the 
way," or demand a free passage by the ringing of 
bells or the blowing of shrill whistles. All of these 
things are rude, startling, and exceedingly ill-bred. 
Moreover, they serve to make enemies where, it is 



ABOUT BICYCLES. 



99 



most important the bicycle should have friends. 
No one will refuse to allow you room to pass if )-ou 
slacken speed, and politely ask him to do so ; and a 
pleasant "Thank you" in acknowledgment of the 
courtesy thus rendered will go far toward securing 
that person's favorable consideration of the rights 
of bicycles, and the need of good roads for them, 
the next time the question is brought to his atten- 
tion. 

Now, bo)"s, for a word with )'ou. Will you tell 
me wh)-, as a rule, you double yourselves up like 
jackknives, and bend over so as to almost touch 
your handle-bars while riding ? Is it because you 
think it a becoming attitude ? Well, it isn't. It 
makes you look like so many wooden monkeys, 
climbing sticks. If you gain any speed by it you do 
so at the expense of wind, for it is certain that you 
can't breathe so well in that position as when sitting 
straight. Besides, do you find it necessary or even 
enjoyable to " scorch" or ride at full speed all the 
time ? I will admit that in riding up a steep hill, or 
against a strong wind, there is something to be 
gained by bending over, though it is not necessary 
even in those cases. In horseback riding only 
jockeys, while engaged in racing, bend low over the 



lOO THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

horse's neck. The road rider who assumes such a 
position would be a subject for derision. Moreover, 
by persistent bending over, you are weakening- your 
lungs, curving your spines, and rounding your 
shoulders. You are training yourselves to become 
crooked-backed, hollow-chested, stoop-shouldered 
men. If this is what the bicycle is doing for you, it 
would be better that you had never seen one. So 
there, boys, drop this practice of bending over just 
as quickly as you know how. Sit up as straight as 
the girls do, or, better still, as straight as a cavalry 
soldier on parade ; throw back your shoulders, ex- 
pand your lungs, and in after years you will have 
good cause to bless the day that gave you your first 
bicycle. 

As for the girl bicycle riders who, as a rule, put 
the boys to shame by riding as straight as though 
they were on horseback, I am afraid that in some 
cases they only do so because they can't bend over 
and breathe at the same time. How is it, girls ? 
Are not some of you trying to ride in corsets, or at 
least in tight waists and belts ? If so, you are pre- 
paring for yourselves a future of even greater suf- 
fering and unhappiness than the monkey-like boys 
who bend low over their handle-bars ; and to you, 




A Halt by the Way. 
(By f>ermissiott of the U'esli-rii Wheel ll'orks, Chhago. III.) 



AHOLT HI( VCl.ES. IO3 

too, I would say that it were better never to liave 
seen a bicycle than to attempt to ride under such 
conditions. Can you, when dressed for a ride, raise 
your arms straight above your head and bring the 
palms of your hands together ? Can you stoop over 
and touch your toes with the tijis of )()ur hngers 
without bending the knees? If you can. your rid- 
ing costume is all right. If )ou cannot, it is all 
wrong. 

Before dropping the subject of riding costumes, 
I want to suggest that bicycle riding is a most ener- 
getic form of exercise, and that one becomes quickly 
heated by it even on a cool day ; therefore, the wear- 
ing of underclothing of light flannel, which readily 
absorbs perspiration, is most important. In these 
days of pneumonia and kindred troubles, it is also 
very desirable that a coat, jacket, or sweater should 
form part of the equipment of every bicycle. It 
should be compactl)^ folded, and strapped to the 
handle-bar or luQroraa-e-carrier durinof the ride, and 
put on by the rider the moment a halt is called. It 
makes little difference how thinly you are clad while 
eneaeed in the heating exercise of ridino-. so lono- 
as you are provided with a warm over-garment to 
cool off in. All athletes recognize this necessity. 



I04 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

Note, for instance, the heavy woollen sweaters that 
are drawn over the heads of the foot-ball men the 
moment they stop play. We blanket our over- 
heated horses in order to save them from the effects 
of a too sudden cooling. Shall we not give to our- 
selves at least the same amount of care that we 
bestow upon them ? 

So much for the rider. Now for the machine. 
The bicycle is at once the lightest, strongest, and 
most easy-running of all wheeled vehicles. With 
its air-cushioned rubber tires, steel spokes, ball 
bearings, spring seat, and hollow steel frame, it is 
perfectly adapted to its work. At the same time all 
of its adjustments are so delicate and so dependent 
upon each other, that a disturbance of any one 
affects the whole machine. A squeak or rattle 
should not be tolerated for a minute. Every prop- 
erly equipped tool-bag contains the means for re- 
moving either of these nuisances. Always examine 
and test every part of your bicycle before starting 
on a ride, and never fail to have your tool-bag pro- 
vided with wrench, screw-driver, a full oil-can, a bit 
of soft rag, and a small bottle of cement. Above 
all, make a point of knowing your machine, its every 
adjustment, screw, and nut, as well as you know 



ABOUT nicvci.Es. 105 

your alphabet, before you take it away from the 
place at which you have purchased it. 

Do not attempt to ride either far or fast at first. 
The bicycle brings into pla)- a different set of 
muscles from an)- that you have exercised before, 
and you must give them time to become accustomed 
to their work. When they have done so, and you 
have obtained a perfect mastery of your machine, 
you will be able to take daily rides of from ten to 
fifty miles w-ith less effort than you formerly ex- 
pended in walking a third of those distances. To . 
the wheelman, free to go when and where he will, 
to stop where and for as long as he pleases, to regu- 
late his speed at will, and thus to have absolute 
control of his own movements, all other modes of 
conveyance seem tame and inadequate. With all 
this the bicycle is now among the cheapest of lux- 
uries. Any boy or girl may earn one by obtaining 
a few new subscribers to some popular or enter- 
prising magazine ; while those whose means will 
permit them to purchase outright will find by con- 
sulting the advertisements that prices are tumbling 
all the time. Twenty years ago I paid more for 
an old wooden-wheeled, iron-tired, plain bearing, 
and springless velocipede, or " bone-shaker " as 



io6 



THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 



it is now called, "tlian would purchase a first-class 
safety bicycle to-day. Wherefore, my young read- 
ers, be thankful that your youth has come to you 
in an age of bicycles, rather than in one of " bone- 
shakers." 




RUNNING AND HURDLING. 




BY NORMAN W. IJINCIIIAM, JR. 

Captaiit Harvard Track 'I'eaiii <)/ 181)5. 

CARCELY any form of athh^tics 
s., has so many followers who dif- 
fer so absolutely in physique 
from the popularly accepted 
idea of an " athlete," as do the 
so-called " pedestrian " sports, 
which include running and 
hurdling. The frailest and palest youths have 
sometimes proved themselves the most powerful 
racers ; and it is no uncommon sight on the track to 
see a thin, weak-looking boy run a big. muscular 
fellow " off his feet." The possession of a pair 
of long legs is no assurance that their owner will 
be able to get over the ground quickly, nor, as has 
often been proved, do decidedly short ones prevent 
his doing so. The fact is, there is absolutely no 

107 



I08 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

means of judging off-hand what sort of a racer one 
will make. For this reason, the boy who is too 
small to play foot-ball or to row, or was not born 
with the base-ball instinct in him, may turn his 
attention to the cinder-path, with the consoling 
thought that from just such as he many a cham- 
pion has been developed. 

There is no better athletic sport than running ; 
none which should bring with it less danger of phys- 
ical injury, and none which demands so small an 
amount of time daily for practice, or getting into 
" form." Lasting and serious harm, however, may 
result from improper training. 

The boy who desires to enter for a foot-race 
should, first of all, be sure that his heart is strong; 
he should assure himself that he has no special 
weakness which the strain of competition might 
aofpravate. 

He probably knows whether his abilities lie in 
the direction of long or short distances. Only ac- 
tual trials and racing experience, however, can de- 
termine for just what distance he is best fitted. 
There are often cases in which boys start out with 
the idea of going into the short dashes, and, 
after attaining little success at that, turn out first- 



RUNNING AND IIURDl-INd. 1 09 

class middle-distance or distance runners. A poor 
showing in a first race, then, should not discourage 
a boy from further effort. 

The most popular distances with amateurs in 
America are the one hundred yards' dash, the two 
hundred and twenty yards' dash, quarter-mile, half- 
mile, and mile runs. The three-mile and five-mile 
runs are less often attempted, and the still longer 
distances are seldom covered except in " cross- 
country" running. 

There are many theories as to the best method of 
preparing for each one of these distances. One 
trainer may tell you to do one thing, and another 
will say that is just wrong. Moreover, persons of 
different temperaments and dispositions will not 
always do well under the same treatment. Experi- 
ence alone will prove just how much and what sort 
of work will bring a man into the best possible con- 
dition. Without attempting to discuss or compare 
the advantages of different training methods, I shall 
simply attempt to throw out a few hints to boys 
who have no chance to secure a trainer, or to watch 
others train. 

The first danger to be avoided is that of tr\ing to 
do too much at once. 1 shall alwa)'s remember 



I lO THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

one evening on Holmes' Field in Cambridge, watch- 
ing a number of " town " boys training. Some 
were tearing wildly about the track as if running for 
a record ; others had thrown themselves on the 
grass exhausted. 

A young man with a stop-watch in his hand called 
out to a very weary-looking lad who had thrown 
himself face-downward on the orass : — 

" Let's see, Jo, what you training for?" 

" Quarter," was the reply. 

" What ye done to-night ? " 

" J*^§'g'^<^ tw^ miles." 

" Feel like being timed a quarter?" 

" Well, I reckon I'll run one first, 'n' see how m' 
wind is." 

So up jumped the sprinter; he ran around the 
track at a smart pace, and then ran his quarter-mile 
on time. 

Absurd as it seemed, it was but the exaggeration 
of the common fault of all beginners — a tendency 
to do more than is good for them. 

If the beginner intends to "sprint" — that is, 
run the short distances up to a quarter-mile — he 
had better, for a few days, take slow jogs of three 
hundred or four hundred yards. 



RUNNING AND IIURDLIXti. 



Ill 



Having accustomed his muscles to the exercise, 
he may vary this work every other day by running 
at fair speed for about two-thirds of the distance he 
intends to made his specialty. If it be the hundred- 
yard dash, he may do^ it twice, with a few minutes' 
rest between each dash. The slow work will serve 
to strengthen the muscles, and the quick work to 
keep them limber. Proceeding in this manner, the 
sprinter should be able, after 
ten days or two weeks, to 
run at top speed without 
danofer of straining his mus- 
cles. 

So much depends on a 
good start in sprint races 
that much of a man's time 
must be devoted to getting away quickly after the 
starters pistol is fired. 

In all races the starter gives two preliminary com- 
mands to the men before sending them off. At the 
first — " On your marks ! " — the men are supposed 
to take their positions on the track ; they may, if 
they like, scrape out small holes to prevent the feet 
from slipping in starting. Then the word comes, 
" Set ! " when the contestants get in position, ready 




The Standing Start. 



112 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

for the signal " Go." As every false start entails 

the penalty of being set back, it is necessary that 

this position should be a steady one. 

Speaking generally, there are two prominent 

styles of starting, each of which, however, has its 

modifications. 

First, there is the standing start, which is used 

by all long-distance runners when there is no 
need of starting off in the lead. 
The runner plants one foot on 
the " scratch," or starting-line, 
the other foot is placed from 
twenty inches to a yard back ; 
then throwing the weight as 

out losing the balance, with 
one arm thrust forward and the other back, he is 
" set." 

Nearly all sprinters nowadays, however, have 
adopted some form of the low or " crouching" start. 
The commonest and perhaps the easiest way to 
learn is that in which both feet are back of 
" scratch." One foot is planted a few inches be- 
hind the line, and the other from six inches to a 
foot still farther back. When told to set, the run- 




far forward as is possible with- 

The Low or " Crouching " Start. 



RUNNING AND HURDLING. 11^5 

ner stoops, places his hands or finger-tips on tlie 
mark, and throws his weight forward on the arms. 
When the hands are raised from the ground the 
tendency is to pitch forward, and he must either run 
or fall. A start which is used successfully by many 
sprinters is a sort of combination between a stand- 
ing and crouching position. The runner takes his 
position as if for a standing start, with his feet 
spread a trifle farther apart. At the word " set," he 
places the hand corresponding to the forward foot 
on the line just inside that foot, and thus divides 
his weiofht between the arm and leo-. This affords 
him the advantao^e of beingr- steadier than in the 
standing start, and does not give him so much of a 
strain as does the low start. Of course, on the days 
that are devoted to starting, the runner can make 
his other work lighter. It is well, also, while start- 
ing, to keep on occasionally and run out for forty or 
fifty yards. Otherwise it may be difficult for a man 
to eet into his regfular stride after he starts. 

The general scheme of training for the sprints 
may, to speak very roughly, be applied to the other 
distances. That is to say, there must be some long 
work, and more shorter fast work. As I have said 
before, however, no two men can train in exactly 



Il6 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

the same manner. Delicate men who rely largely 
on their "nerve" to carry them through a race, 
cannot stand as much severe work as their more 
rugged fellows, though they may run their races 
quite as fast. 

Men who are training for distances from the quar- 
ter mile up scarcely need to be sent beyond their 
distance oftener than once or twice a week. The 
rest of the time may be spent in running from half 
to two-thirds the distance at a much sharper pace. 

As to a man's " style " in running, there is not 
much to be said, except that he should be as natural 
as possible. He should stride out freely, getting 
his knees well up in front of him, but should not 
attempt to step too far. The arms should swing 
easily backward and forward, and should not be 
hugged up to the chest in such a way as to contract 
the lungs. Above all, don't attempt to run with 
your mouth closed. It is pitiful to see some men 
half strangle themselves in a race by attempting to 
breathe throuo-h the nose alone. 

"Hurdling" (or leaping over obstructions while 
running) requires not only the speed and endurance 
of flat-runninof, but also a coolness and orace which 
some men can never acquire. 



RUNNIN(; AND H LM<I)I.INC.. II7 

There is a material difference between hiirdlint^ 
and a common jump. The spring being taken from 
one foot, the other should be brought up so that it 
will be nearly as high as the knee, and only slightly 
forward of it. 

The leg from which the spring is taken should be 
allowed to follow with the foot well back, and knee 
up to one side. Never hurry this foot forward. In 
order to clear the hurdles with the smallest possible 
loss of time, the athlete must regulate his stride so 
as to be ready to leave the ground at practically 
the same distance from each hurdle. He must not 
go higher than is absolutely necessary to clear the 
hurdles, and must land on the ground poised in a 
position to continue his running. 

The two popular distances with hurdlers are one 
hundred and twenty yards, and two hundred and 
twenty yards. In the former, there are ten hurdles, 
usually three feet six inches in height, and placed 
ten yards apart. The first hurdle is fifteen yards 
from the scratch. In this race the runner is able to 
get in just three strides between the hurdles. This 
forces him to take his spring, every time, from the 
same foot. Fear of the hurdles, and a tendency to 
get too near them before leaving the ground, are 



Il8 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

difficulties against which the beginner has to con- 
tend. If his stride comes right, however, and he 
is able to run fast between the hurdles, it will only 
require practice to enable him to run through with 
as much certainty about coming up to the hurdles 
properly as if he were a machine. One well-known 
high hurdler has expressed confidence in his ability 
to run his race blindfolded. 

The two hundred and twenty yard hurdles are 
each two feet six inches high, placed twenty yards 
apart, the first one being set twenty yards from the 
start. The runner will find it necessary to take 
either seven, eight, or nine strides between the 
hurdles. The best hurdlers require only seven. 
This enables the runner to spring or " take off" 
always with the same foot. Few men, however, 
have a long enough stride or sufficient endurance 
to enable them to go through all ten hurdles, taking 
only seven strides between. Eight strides demand 
of the runner the ability to " take off" equally well 
with either foot, while nine strides are too many to 
enable a man to attain any great speed between 
hurdles. The ability to hurdle easily may be gained 
in the winter by using a single hurdle in the 
gymnasium. 



I20 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

Whether in flat-runnino- or hurdhne, it should 
always be remembered that a race is won at the 
finish. There the supreme effort should be made. 
It is a frequent mistake with novices to stop run- 
ning a yard or two from the finish, and many a race 
has been lost in this way. 

Chapters might be written about the proper way 
to run the different distances, but the fine points of 
racing are best learned from experience. 



HARE AND HOUNDS RUNS. 

BV DAVID \V. FENTOX, 2i). 
Harvard and Mniihiittnii Cross-Coiiittry /'cams, 1892. 

LONG before cinder tracks and spiked shoes were 
-^ known, our ancestors settled their disputes of 
superiority in regard to their powers of speed by 
running across the meadows and plains. It is an 
interesting fact to note the decline of this long- 
distance running during the past century, and its 
revival again, chiefly through the medium of hare 
and hounds runs, in the larger American univer- 
sities. 

Any one who has enjoyed these runs on brisk 
fall afternoons, and experienced their invigorating 
effects, will never avoid an opportunity to take part 
in this popular out-door sport. The delicate youth 
who is urged into it by the enthusiasm of the 
old runners, increases his powers of endurance, 
o-ains health and strencrth, and sees Nature in all 
her beauty. 



HARE AND HOUNDS RUNS. 1 25 

ten miles, they strew a profusion of paper on the 
ground as the signal for the "break." When the 
hounds reach this point, they line up, wait awhile 
for the stragglers, and then break away, racing for 
home. ■ The first and second hounds in at the 
finish receive appropriate prizes. 

The hares are rarely caught, as many circum- 
stances cause much loss of time by the hounds. 
Sometimes the wind blows away part of the scent, 
and the small boys along the route often pick up 
the bits of paper and lay a false trail. Thus 
much tinie may. be lost in discovering the true 
course. The desire for prizes has sometimes 
caused the hares to lay double trails and resort 
to other unsportsmanlike means to deceive the 
hounds ; but this fault has been remedied by the 
passage of a rule which provides that the hares 
shall receive no prizes. 

The ideal course usually lies about a hilly coun- 
try, through patches of woods, and over fences with 
numerous water-jumps occurring along the way. 
These different obstacles lend variety, and the 
distance is not realized half as much as when 
one encircles a running track for an hour or so. 
Many men fail to compete in these runs on the 



n ?^ 










HARE AND MOUNDS RUNS. 1 27 

supposition that they are short-winded, and liave 
not the endurance to withstand the effects of a 
five-mile chase. This is no criterion, for the suc- 
cessful competition of sprinters and short-distance 
men has proved that all classes of runners can 
compete with ease and success. The pleasantest 
features of this sport are the social intercourse, 
and the feeling that one is not compelled to en- 
dure the hardships of a contest ; for the race from 
the " break " usually narrows down to the six fast- 
est men in the pack. 

In the past, college hare and hounds chases 
have been confined to the fall ; but any number 
of fellows thus inclined can enjoy this sport at 
any season of the year. Those who are accus- 
tomed to the routine work of chest weights and 
dumb-bells should take part in this out-door exer- 
cise, by going out for a five-mile spin twice a 
week, and, on the return, experience the reaction 
of a cold shower-bath. 



HINTS FOR YOUNG PEDESTRIANS. 

BY CHARLES M. SKINNER. 

IF I could inspire ten wide-awake young fellows 
with a fondness for pedestrian exercise, I 
should be quite satisfied to jot down some hints 
on walking tours, suggested out of an experience 
of many excursions, aggregating several thousand 
miles of walking. 

A self-reliant lad of good constitution should 
be able to get along by himself for a week or two, 
and to find his way through almost any part of the 
United States without other assistance than civil 
speech and a small map ; and if he is not a self- 
reliant lad, I know of few things that will do more 
to develop his pluck, and cultivate a habit of think- 
inof and actino- for himself, than walkinof. Mind, 
I do not mean walking about a sawdust ring with 
the object of scoring a higher number of miles than 
some other contestant ; for, while admitting the 

128 



HINTS FOR YOUNG I'EDES TRIANS. I 29 

value of non-professional track-athletics as an edu- 
cator of nerve and muscle, it is to be remembered 
that nerves and muscles are kept on a strain 
that often produces bad effects when the walk is 
over; then, too, in plodding over dull ground or 
empty floors the thoughts are tied down to the 
work and the surroundings, instead of being free 
to roam, as when the walker is in open air and 
in the midst of beautiful scenery. 

In the first place, you want at least a week for 
your trip. If you have more time to give, you will 
be in better trim the longer you walk, as you 
should aim to increase your distance a little every 
day. Many people unaccustomed to long walks 
are exhausted by a ten-mile tramp ; but by begin- 
ning, say with seven or eight miles, and increasing 
a mile or so daily, walkers become able to pace off 
forty miles a day and to be none the worse for it. 
The object of a pedestrian trip is not, however, to 
ascertain how much or how fast you can walk, but 
to see the country, gain new experiences, and enjoy 
yourself. Of course, in order to do this you must 
attain a reasonable degree of speed and endurance, 
otherwise you will find walking a poky affair. To 
find yourself at night near the place you left in the 



130 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

morning is discouraging, for you will begin to con- 
sider life too short to see much without the assist- 
ance of horses and railroad trains. 

Lay out your route before you start, calculate 
your expenses, and supply yourself with money 
enough to meet them, as well as to provide for con- 
tingencies. Arrange for the reception of letters 
at various points, allowing two days between the 
time of writing and of receiving, for distances over 
one hundred and under five hundred miles from 
home. By planning your trip before starting, as 
you may with the aid of maps and guide-books, 
you will know exactly what you are undertaking, 
and will avoid mistakes and confusion. Be sure 
that you know where you are going, and that you 
are posted as to the points of interest along the 
line of march. 

Do not encumber yourself with useless luggage. 
If you carry more than three or four pounds of 
" traps," you will be tempted to turn about and 
take them home before you have been more than 
two hours on your journey. If you intend to camp 
out every night, you must be content to go heavily 
weighted, and to put up with many discomforts. 
You will sleep cold, you will get wet, you will be 



HINTS K(JR VOL'XC I'KI )KSTRIANS. I3F 

obliged to carry a tent, hatchet, pan, pot. cup, 
knife, fork, spoon, and some provisions; and )()ii 
will be inclined to doubt if the fun equals the 
trouble, unless you accompany a jolly party, and 
have the whole summer before you. Here is my 
whole equipment for tours of an)- length ; it is all 
I took on a trip across the continent, and were 1 
to visit Europe I should atld nothing to it: — 

(i) A soft leather satchel, about ten by twelve 
inches, slung from the shoulder by a straj). It 
contains (2) a gossamer rubber overcoat, (3) a 
nightgown, (4) a collar, (5) a neck-tie, (6) a guide- 
book, or map, (7) postal cards, (8) comb, (9) 
toothbrush, (10) ''telescope" cup; and room is 
still left for packing small minerals or photographs 
of places that I visit. In my pockets I carry ( i i) a 
watch, (12) sketch-book, (13) pencils, (14) knife, 
(15) diary, (16) toothpicks, (17) handkerchief, 
(18) money, (19) and a book for reading during 
bad weather and at inns in the eveninor. I also 
carry (20) a stout cane, which gets to be a com- 
panionable sort of thing, and may be of service as 
a weapon. It is worth carrying for the sense of 
protection you receive from it, if for no other rea- 
son. The rubber overcoat is more than a comfort in 



132 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

showery weather. The nightgown should be indis- 
pensable to everybody ; for it is unhealthful and 
uncleanly to wear the same clothing day and night. 
Even when compelled to sleep In barns — and 
there are worse beds than a hay-mow — I laid 
aside at night every vestige of clothing worn dur- 
ing the day, allowing it to air and dry thoroughly 
until morning. It is a luxury to slip out of your 
dusty clothes, damp with perspiration ; it is pleasant 
to find them fresh and serviceable when you awake. 
Clear water is the best adjunct to a toothbrush in 
the care of the teeth. Soap and towels you find 
everywhere, so there is no need for taking them. 
By all means carry a note-book, or diary, and make 
a daily jotting of your distances and adventures. 
Though you write but five or six lines a day, those 
little hints will serve in after years to strengthen 
memories of what will probably be classed among 
the happiest days of your life. So with the sketch- 
book. The roughest and hastiest of my sketches, 
though of interest to nobody but myself, calls 
up a hundred circumstances, and puts me back 
among the hills in a twinkling. Be earnest in 
your sketching, and let your drawing, although but 
an outline, be as true as you can make it. My 



HINTS FOR YOUNC. PEDESTRIANS. 1 33 

sketch-hook is carried in a large pocket inside 
my coat. 

Now as to clothes. It is plain that you should 
not set out upon a two-hundred-mile walk dressed 
in broadcloth, kid gloves, and patent leathers. 
Take your every-day suit, see that all the pockets 
are sound, and the buttons sewed on tightly. Be 
sure that your shoes are thick-soled, well oiled and 
broken in ; and, if you are going to climb moun- 
tains, tell the cobbler to put soft iron nails into the 
heels instead of hard iron or steel, for the latter 
become smooth and slippery, making- your footing 
unreliable on steep ledges. There is no need of 
suggesting that you may paddle about barefooted 
now and then. You will be sure to do that be- 
fore you have been a day from home ; but take 
smooth roads for it. Bathe your feet every night, 
and if they are a little tender put soap on )our 
stockings. You will see from my inventory that I 
carry no stockings except those that I wear. It is 
more convenient to wear out the pair you start 
with, washing them now and then, than to carry 
extra ones. When they are no longer serviceable, 
throw them away and buy new ones. You may 
buy them at country stores for fifteen cents. Wear 



134 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

a flannel shirt with gauze underclothing next to 
the skin. Let the shirt be one of those convenient 
arrangements with a rolling collar that you can 
turn down your neck on state occasions, placing 
over it a linen or paper collar, and a scarf. As 
the collar and tie conceal all traces of the shirt, 
nobody knows that you are not arrayed in the 
finest linen. How do I get my shirt washed ? In 
this way : my nightgown is arranged with collar 
buttons, and I conceal the front with the collar 
and scarf, wearing it in place of my shirt while the 
laundress is scrubbing the dust out of that gar- 
ment. Flannel shirts need washino- but seldom 
where underclothinor is worn, a o-ood shaking- often 
sufficing to get the dust out of them. The night- 
gown, collar, handkerchief, and underclothing should 
be washed and ironed for you within eight hours, 
if you make the laundress understand that you can 
wait no longer for them. 

You will find it so difficult to organize a pedes- 
trian party, that you may as well make up your 
mind at the outset to go alone. For a day or so 
you may feel the lack of company ; but it will take 
only a short time to accustom yourself to it, and 
you will find great delight in the absolute liberty 



HINTS FOR YOUNG PEDESTRIANS. 1 37 

you will enjoy. I have never succeeded in finding- 
a companion for a longer excursion than twenty- 
five miles. No matter what plans are made in 
advance, at the last moment one pedestrian finds 
himself up to his ears in business, another has a 
sore toe, and another has paid his tailor's bill and 
hasn't a dollar left. I have long given up hope 
of walking in company ; but one is seldom lonely 
where nature is beautiful, and there is always 
enouorh to think about without talkinof. Even in 
seemingly well-assorted parties, if one of the num- 
ber proves to be lazy, or sulky, or dissents from 
schemes in which the majority concur, or cannot 
walk fast, or wishes to lingrer in uninterestine 
places for selfish reasons, or is always expressing 
dissatisfaction with the route, or complains loudly 
at the little privations of travel that should be sub- 
jects of merriment instead of melancholy, or has 
some hobby that he indulges, to loss of interest in 
his walk, or is vulgar or vicious in his talk or habits, 
the whole tr\\) may be spoiled. There should be in 
a party tlie cheerfulness, delight in natuRN and sin- 
gleness of purpose, that )ou would {'c.c.l alone ; and 
it is difficult to find this, for wherever people are 
assembled together, differences of opinion arise. 



138 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

Supposing you have started upon your tramp. 
The sun shines, flowers and foHage sweeten the 
air, birds sing in the wood yonder, the brook 
bubbles its cooHng music beside the road, the dis- 
tant hills are clear and blue. Very likely you 
have seen the landscape hundreds of times before, 
but it has a new charm now; for you are, perhaps 
for the first time in your life, absolutely free. 
Steal into some cornfield by the wayside, and stand 
on your head for a few minutes to relieve the 
immense enthusiasm that this feeling is certain to 
awaken, and resume your walk. You have eaten 
a hearty breakfast, and your appetite is, no doubt, 
healthy enough to fill your landlords with some 
anxiety when you begin your depredations in their 
dining-rooms ; but do not eat a big dinner at noon. 
If your means are limited, you cannot afford it ; if 
your time is limited, the hour you will spend at the 
table will be a heavy sacrifice ; and if your stomach 
is heavily loaded, you cannot walk as blithely as 
you did before dinner. Take your heartiest meal 
later in the day. At noon, or thereabout, knock at 
some farmhouse door ; and ask for bread and milk. 
You will receive enough for three, your bill may 
reach fifteen cents^ but It is more likely to be ten, 



HINTS FOR YOUNG PEDESTRIANS. 1 39 

and you will be in better trim to continue the walk 
than if you had been eating meat, vegetables, and 
pie. I have often obtained lunches at farmhouses 
that were almost equal in variety and abundance 
to a regular dinner. Here is what a man in the 
Catskills once set before me, after apologizing 
for the emptiness of his pantry : cold meat, pre- 
served fruit, cake, bread, pot-cheese, and fresh 
cider. Now guess the amount of his bill. Thir- 
teen cents ! Don't be bashful about asking for a 
bowl of bread and milk, at least in any farmhouse 
of respectable size and appearance. It is the one 
thing sure to be found: it is nourishing; and though 
the charge for it, if one is made, is so low that you 
feel compunctions of conscience for not paying it 
twice, remember that money goes farther than in 
town, while the lunch costs your worthy host the 
merest trifle. For dessert, help yourself to fruit 
and berries from the wayside. If benighted, storm- 
bound, or astray, you will have little difficulty in 
o^ettino- the cjood farmer folk to eive you a lodcrinsf 
over night, offering to pay them, of course, for 
their trouble. They will perplex you with their 
curiosity ; but if you talk cheerfully and frankly, 
they will like you, and your stay will be pleasant. 



140 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

Unless you are well supplied with money, do not 
stop over night in cities and large towns upon your 
route. Arrange your trip so that you can pass 
through them, and put up at the tavern in a village 
beyond. Not in the suburbs, for there the hotels 
are wretched, but in some country settlement ; 
there the beds will be clean, the tables well-sup^ 
plied, the charges will be moderate, and you will 
not be compelled to "dress up" to an alarming 
extent on account of the company you will meet. 
Always ascertain the amount of your bill in advance. 
If you are compelled to stop in a city, it will be 
wiser, unless your stay is of several days, to engage 
rooms and pay for only such meals as you have, 
than to lodge in a pretentious hotel where you pay 
full day's board if you are there only two hours. 
Should you lose your way, or find yourself belated 
and compelled to spend the night in the open air, 
contrive some sort of covering that shall keep off the 
dew. A tree is better than nothing. Do not liofht a 
fire unless the night is cold, for it will attract bugs, 
moths, and flies by hundreds ; but if you do light 
one, sleep with your feet towards it, and make sure 
that nothing in the vicinity is likely to catch the 
fiame. I doubt if your first night on the ground be 



HINTS FOR VOUN(i I'KDKS'I'RI A\S. I4I 

passed in very sound sleep. You will better enjoy 
thinking and telling about your experience after- 
ward, than undergoing it at the time. Mysterious 
murmurs will be heard in the branches ; soft foot- 
falls and gliding noises will come from thickets ; 
night birds, crickets, katydids, and frogs will talk 
persistently ; now and then you will start up pre- 
pared to affirm that you heard a whisper ; you will 
wonder if there are snakes, skunks, weasels, and 
rats in the vicinity ; and it may be some hours 
before you realize that the queer noises are only 
produced by wind and harmless insects; then your 
tired head will sink upon the grass, you will thrash 
about and partly wake at intervals, and will pres- 
ently sit up to rub your stiff elbows and discover 
that it is morning. Before lying down, remove all 
hard things except watch and money from }our 
pockets, as they will press into your flesh when you 
lie upon them, and hurt you. Then turn up your 
coat collar and button your clothing well about )ou, 
for dew will fall and the night be chilly. If your 
hat or cap is too good to sleep in, tie your hand- 
kerchief about your head. Ease your feet by partly 
unlacing or unbuttoning your shoes, and be sure 
that your shirt is not tight about the neck. Use 



142 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

your satchel or nightgown as a pillow, your rubber 
overcoat as a blanket, a heap of grass or leaves 
as a mattress. You will rest more comfortably if 
you will make a hollow in the ground about three 
inches deep, for your shoulder to slip into, and 
another like it for the hip. I don't recommend 
sleeping out of doors " for fun." I have tried 
board floors, wagons, and freight cars, and have 
found them, with a little dressinof of weeds and 
grass, pleasanter beds than bare ground. 

As to a " stamping-ground," all parts of the 
country offer attractive pedestrian routes, though 
1 should fancy that the plains and prairies might 
become monotonous to the walker. Amongr re- 
gions favorable for walking, I can, from experience, 
recommend the White and Green Mountains, Cat- 
skills, the Lehigh region, Hudson, Connecticut, 
Housatonic, Delaware, Potomac, and Shenandoah 
valleys, the New England coast from Cape Cod to 
Portland, Western New York and Niagara, and the 
reofions about Montreal and Quebec. These dis- 
tricts are penetrated by railroads and the telegraph, 
so that in case of accident, sickness, or loss of 
funds, you could return or communicate with home 
at once. 



HINTS FOR YOUNc; rEDES'lRI ANS. 1 43 

The walker may pleasantly vary his route by re- 
turning over different roads from those upon which 
he set forth. Here is a sample route, taken from 
one of my summer tramps : Boston to Alton Bay, 
N. H., across Lake Winnepesaukee by steamer, Cen- 
tre Harbor, Campton, Pemigewasset valley, the Pool, 
Basin, Flume, Franconia Notch, Profile, Echo Lake, 
Franconia, Bethlehem, Fabyan's, Mt. Deception, 
Mt. Washington, Crawford bridle path over the 
Presidential range to the Crawford House, White 
Mountain Notch, Bartlett, Glen Road and return, 
Iron Mountain, North Conway, Lake Ossipee, 
Portland, Salem, Lynn, and Boston. It is some- 
times practicable to establish one's headquarters in 
the centre of an interesting region, striking out 
in various directions from that point. Thus, in the 
Catskills, the village of Hunter affords a convenient 
point of departure for Hunter Mountain, Stony 
Clove, Kaaterskill Clove, Plattekill Clove, South 
and North Mountains, Cairo, Windham, Lexington, 
and Grand Gorge. 

The young traveller who has the entire summer 
before him, and a purse long enough to attempt 
such an undertaking safely, may adapt the following 
route to his liking by cutting from or adding to the 



144 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

list of interesting points, going over some portions 
of the country by rail, and perhaps accepting- the 
numerous invitations to ride that farmers, travelling 
from town to town, extend to people they overtake 
upon the road. Starting up the Hudson River 
from New York visit Sunnyside, the home of Irving; 
Tarrytown and its quaint Dutch church ; Sing Sing 
and the State prison there ; the military school and 
old forts at West Point ; Storm King, highest of 
the Hudson hills ; Newburg and Washington's 
headquarters ; Saugerties, from which point a de- 
tour can be made, embracing some of the finest 
portions of the Catskills, returning to the Hudson 
River at Catskill village ; Albany and the Capitol ; 
Troy ; Saratoga and its famous springs ; Glen's 
Falls ; Fort William Henry ; down Lake George 
by steamer ; Ticonderoga and its historic ruins ; 
down Lake Champlain by steamer, stopping at 
Port Henry or Essex for a brief run into the Adi- 
rondack region ; Port Kent and Au Sable Chasm ; 
Burlington ; up the Winooski, ascending Camel's 
Hump and stopping at Montpelier ; Wells River ; 
Woodstock, N. H., from which point make a tour 
of the White Mountains, similar to that just out- 
lined ; Boston, or Connecticut valley, to New York. 



HINTS FOR YOUNCx PEDESTRIANS. 1 45 

There ! Some of the grandest and most beautiful 
scenery in the world is yours to enjoy upon this 
trip. Or, if that programme is not sufficiently am- 
bitious, you may omit the walk across Vermont, and 
extend your trip from Port Kent to Montreal and 
Quebec, descendino- into the White Mountain re- 
eion of the North. 

The interest of your walk will be much increased 
if you will glance through the history of the region 
you intend to explore ; or, if you have a scientific 
turn, you might post yourself on the geology, min- 
eralogy, or botany of the country. 



OUT-OF-DOOR GYMNASTICS. 

BY JOHN GRAHAM, 

Athletic Ma7tager Boston Athletic Association and Ex-Sjcperintendent Charlesbank 
Gyinncisimn. 

TO the healthy boy or girl, exercise is always 
attractive. It is also helpful and strength- 
ening. The practice of gymnastics develops the 
muscles, tones the system, and yields toughened 
sinews in place of debilitating fat. The gymna- 
sium is the means to this end ; its simple or com- 
plicated appliances alike affording that opportunity 
for systematic development that modern gymnas- 
tics aims to secure. 

But fresh air is the chief tonic. An out-of-door 
gymnasium, where such is possible, is then an 
even better means toward the acquiring of muscle 
and sinew, strength and health, than one in-doors. 

Realizing this fact, the "powers that be" in 
the city of Boston instituted in the strip of park 
known as the Charlesbank, an open-air gymna- 

146 



OUT-OK-DOOR GYMNASTICS. 1 47 

sium, fitting- it up with the appHances that give 
the best exercise — chest weights, pulleys, parallel 
bars, horizontal bars, climbing poles, vaulting poles, 
giant strides, jumping boxes, jumping standards 
and ropes, sand bags, quoits, dumb-bells, hurdles, 
swings, perpendicular and inclined ladders, rope 
and Jacob's ladders, flying rings, inclined and per- 
pendicular poles, trapezes, breast bars, balance 
swings, etc. 

This out-of-door "gym" is almost in the heart 
of the city. It occupies a space in the fine em- 
bankment alono- the Charles River near to the 
bridge that Longfellow made famous. It is free 
to the public ; and a systematic attempt for prac- 
tical instruction has been attempted with excel- 
lent results. 

A class of boys was formed for the purpose of 
experimenting in these class drills under no roof 
but the sky. Having a large space that was not 
being occupied for anything in particular, a plat- 
form was built upon the ground, made from the 
plank w^alks used on the park during the winter. 
This platform was marked off in spaces, and was 
found to accommodate about forty in a class. 
None of the bo)s was over eighteen years of 



148 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

age ; the youngest was fifteen years. All wore 
a costume consisting of a white shirt, amateur 
running pants, and rubber-soled shoes. 

Every one of these boys worked all day at some 
light trade ; so, to make it convenient, the class 
was called together at half-past six every alternate 
evening. 

Drills lasted fifteen minutes, each drill beino- 
followed by class work in light athletic exercises. 
The drills were changed every night, so that the boys 
did not receive the same platform drill once in two 
weeks. Drills consisted of free movements, Indian 
clubs, dumb-bells, bar bells, sometimes followed by 
parallel bars, flying rings, and athletics in the pri- 
mary exercises. As an experiment I feel sure it 
was a success. At the beginning it was impossible 
to have the boys go through these exercises without 
feeling conscious of the crowd of lookers-on outside, 
who amused themselves by making personal re- 
marks on the different attitudes of the members of 
the class. This did not add to the esprit of the 
class, and at last the outside critics were requested 
to cease their remarks. They readily complied, and 
after a few days really took as much Interest In the 
exercises as did the scholars themselves. Now, it 



OUT-OF-D( )()K GYMNASTICS. 



149 



must be understood that these boys had never at- 
tended a gymnasium, so that it was much harder An- 
them to tace a large crowd than it would be for boys 
who had been accustomed to doing their "gym" 
work in public. 

After the novelty had 
worn off, it was found that 
the exercises could be 
made as attractive as are 
in-door gymnastics, and 
much more beneficial be- 
cause of the purer air and 
the pleasant surroundings. 

It is in the open air that 
one attains the very founda- 
tion for physical strength ; 
and if this out-of-door ex- 
ercise is but carried on sys- 
tematically, it will prove of 
the utmost importance to growing bodies. 

The field for out-door gymnastics is wide ; people 
are beginning to see the value of parks and breath- 
ing places ; and gymnasiums in these parks are of 
the greatest value, both physically and morally. 
The exercises that are carried on in-doors can be re- 




The Medicine Ball. (On Top of Head.) 



I50 



THE BOOK OF' ATHLETICS. 



peated out-doors when the same apparatus is at 
hand. 

The German Government, through its school 
board, makes gymnastic work almost compulsory, 
and has it carried on out-of-doors. There are a 

number of out-of-door 
gymnasiums, and these 
are attended by all the 
school children. Each 
gymnasium is provided 
with a director-oreneral of 
gymnastics. The gym- 
nasiums are built about 
the same as the Charles- 
bank Gymnasium. 

At the Charlesbank 
the giant stride is a pop- 
ular piece of apparatus. 
This consists of a stout pole fixed in the ground, 
with a revolving plate on its head ; hung from 
the plate are ropes, with handles attached to them ; 
there are four, six, or eight ropes, and these are 
grasped separately, while each performer pushes 
on the orround with his feet until all attain suf- 
ficient momentum to swing around without touch- 




Tim Medicine Bail. {On One Arm.) 



OUT-OK-DOOR (AMNASTICS. I5I 

ing the ground. For the children, instead of 
ropes, ribbons are used. As the children march 
around the pole the ribbons are plaited around it, 
making a very pretty sight when the ribbons are of 
different colors. By reversing the order of march- 
ing, the ribbons unwind from the pole. The heavier 
apparatus is very valuable as a strengthener of the 
grasp, and assists in the development of the chest 
and abdominal muscles. 

All the special apparatus can be used out-doors. 
Of this, special mention may be made of the Neck 
Developer. It is a plain band of canvas with a 
cross piece over the ears, the whole being brought 
to a point in front of the forehead. Fastened to the 
canvas is a slip-hook, which can be attached to the 
handle of a chest weight. By standing and facing 
sideways (left and right) , and back to the weight, 
the muscles of the neck can be exercised. 

Another piece of apparatus is the Medicine Ball, 
the invention of Mr. Roberts, of the Boston Y. M. 
C. A. Gymnasium. This is a large, leather-covered 
ball weighing about ten pounds. The mode of ex- 
ercising is to pass it from one to the other from 
different positions, with both hands, each hand sepa- 
rate — from over the head, between the legs, from 



152 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

the right and left side, and numerous other ways. 
When used as it should be, it is one of the best ex- 
ercises known, both as a strengthener of the whole 
muscular system and a means of recreation. 

Another popular exercise is the Spring Board, 
This apparatus is customarily used in connection 
with the Jumping Rope, or Buck. In the former the 
gymnasts run to the Spring Board, and leap over 
the rope at different heights. When this is done in 
connection with the Buck, in much the same manner 
as leap-frog, finishing with a roll over on the mat, 
the exercise it affords the leas is most admirable. 

Another piece of apparatus not found in the 
in-door gymnasium is the Tilting Ladder. This 
appliance is a source of great enjoyment to those 
who use it, and is a very popular piece of apparatus. 
It is arranged so that it can be used as well by the 
small boys as by the men, for the pin through the 
centre can be drawn out and placed lower down on 
the posts supporting it. The sensation of flying 
through the air induces many to try it, for it is a 
fact that an apparatus that has any swing in connec- 
tion with it is the most popular. The Tilting Ladder 
acts in a like manner with the Giant Stride, as far 
as developing the muscles is concerned. 






^££^ZL_!ir~i'*4'/' 




154 



THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 



The Jacob's Ladder, or, as the boys have termed 
it, the " Razzle Dazzle," is another piece of appara- 
tus not frequently seen in a gymnasium. This 
ladder is hung from the framework by a swivel 

hook, and is not fas- 
tened in the ground, 
but is allowed to swing- 
loose. The rungs of 
the ladder are about 
eighteen inches apart, 
and fastened together 
by a chain or steel bar, 
through the centre of 
the rung. This ar- 
rangement allows the 
rungs to swing loose. 
The mode of exercis- 
ing with this apparatus 
is to grasp a rung at 
the full reach, and lift 
the body from the ground to a rung opposite the 
waist line ; then the legs are spread apart, and 
come to a sitting position on the rung. The hands 
grasp another rung, higher up the ladder, the legs 
are spread apart, and so one pulls himself to the 




The "Razzle Dazzle." 



OUT-OF-DUUK (;ViMNASTICS. 1 55 

top of the ladder. This is splendid exercise for the 
muscles of the hips and thighs, while the back and 
arms also come in for a ereat deal of exercise. 

The interest in out-door work is growing every 
year, as the attendance at the Charlesbank shows. 
When the gymnasium was first opened, it was 
looked upon as a place for fun ; now it is esteemed 
as a place where the needs of the muscular sys- 
tem are attended to systematically. 

The success of this Boston out-of door gymna- 
sium should lead to the adoption of the system in 
other cities ; while the fact that such appliances for 
open-air exercise are possible should suggest to 
inventive and wide-awake boys a means of furnish- 
ing fun and exercise, with a wide scope for their 
ingenuity and skill. 



HOW TO MAKE AN OUT-DOOR 
GYMNASIUM. 

BY WILLIAM F. GARCELON. 

GIVE a Yankee boy a suggestion, and his native 
ingenuity will devise a way to surmount any 
difficulties that may arise during his attempt to fol- 
low and develop it. Every boy delights in exercise ; 
but the solid ground and his own body do not offer 
chance for enough diversity of action to satisfy his 
restlessness, and consequently we find him climbing 
fences and " shinning " trees at every opportunity. 
There is something fascinating about a gymnasium 
to the young lad and older youth, but unfortunately 
gymnastic facilities are not available to a great part 
of energetic Young America. Few boys, however, 
in the country realize how easily home-made appa- 
ratus can be constructed. A few suggestions as to 
the building and equipment of a rough-and-ready 
out-of-door gymnasium such as any boy can make 

156 



HOW TO MAKE AN OUT-UOOR GYMNASIUM. 157 

for himself, may be adapted by the reader to the 
cu'cumstances and faciHties at hand. 

Every boy knows what is required for the con- 
struction of the ordinary swing. If trees are near 
by, they may be made very useful, as they are often 
so formed that they will furnish support for a beam 
or joist to which the ropes may be attached. 

Often a single large branch will support the 
pendent apparatus. 

Or, if in-doors, there is always some convenient 
beam in barn or shed which can be utilized. 

If made rightly, the swing may serve both as a 
swing and as a trapeze. The trapeze bar should 
be from an inch to an inch and a half in diameter. 
The handle of a broken pitchfork, hoe, or rake is 
often used. 

Notch the bar near the ends to prevent the rope 
from slipping ; hang the bar so that it can just be 
reached from the ground, and the trapeze is ready 
for use. Ropes reaching almost to the ground 
may be fastened to the bar, and there you have a 
complete swing and trapeze combined. When the 
trapeze is used, the lower swing may be laid aside. 

A still better arrangement is to have the trapeze 
bar a foot or six inches above reach. Attach iron 



158 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS 

rings to ropes, and hang them from the trapeze bar 
so that they will be about as high as the head. 
Numberless little combination tricks can be per- 
formed with this double apparatus. Rings can be 
purchased at one dollar a pair. 

If, however, the rings are not readily procured a 
handy boy can make them himself of plaited rope ; 
while not having the stiffness of the iron rings, 
these will serve the purpose. 

Of course, the rings may be detached from the 
trapeze at any time. Thus we may have with little 
or no expense, trapeze, swinging rings, and an 
ordinary swing. 

These equipments require, of course, some over- 
hanging support. 

What boy has not circled the cross-bar of some 
old barn door ? Yet, this is simply the horizontal 
bar ; and the horizontal bar is one of the most pop- 
ular pieces of apparatus in a gymnasium. The best 
bars are made of hickory, and are one and a half or 
two inches in diameter. The ends are square and 
when regular uprights are used, there are small 
holes at the ends for the insertion of the supporting 
pins. 

A very good bar can be purchased of dealers 




A Wrestling Match. 



HOW TO MAKE AN OUT-DOOR GYMNASIUM. l6l 

in gymnastic goods for two dollars. But boys may 
make a bar for themselves out of maple or hickory, 
or by using a large pitchfork or hoe-handle. 
Home-made bars should, however, always be tested 
thoroughly before being used, and should not be 
used by very large or heavy boys. 

The greatest difficulty arises in fixing the bar 
firmly. If an old tree is at hand, a hole about an 
inch and a half deep may be cut out, into which one 
end of the bar should exactly fit. 

Then, if a large post or an ordinary piece of joist 
can be firmly planted at a distance of four or five 
feet from the tree, the other end of the bar may be 
inserted in that. The planted post should be well 
propped to prevent spreading. The bar should be 
about fiive feet from the around. 

All the feats on the horizontal bar, except a few of 
the more difficult and dangerous, may be performed 
with the bar at that height. But a tree is not al- 
ways available, and the boy must often depend for 
one support upon the side of a house or barn or 
upon a fence. If he squares the end of his bar, he 
can easily arrange a support by nailing firmly to 
the house a piece of thick board or plank, with an 
opening cut to receive the end of the bar. 



102 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

The boara should be thick enough to prevent the 
bar from coming out of the opening when it bends 
with the weight of the performer. The other end, 
of course, may be supported by upright joist or .■' 
plank as described above. 

If a rough mattress of hay or straw cannot be 
made, it would be well to loosen the earth on one ■ 
side of the bar to save any unnecessary jars ; for 
beginners are quite liable to fall upon shoulders or 
back. 

Jumping standards are most easily made. Place 
two upright sticks firmly in the ground. Drive in 
nails, an inch apart, allowing them to project an 
inch or two for holding the cross-bar. The up- 
rights should be six feet apart, and the ground in 
front should be firm and solid in order to assure a 
good take-off for the jump. A small stick is gener- 
ally used as a cross-bar ; although many use a small 
rope, to the ends of which weights are attached to 
keep it taut. 

A handkerchief or white paper placed on the cross- 
bar aids the jumper. These standards may also be 
used for hurdling, pole-vaulting, or high diving. 
For the diving, a thick, soft mat is necessary. 

The vaulting-horse is a piece of apparatus not 



HOW TO MAKE AN OUT-DOOR C.VMNASIUM. 1 63 

well known to those who have not attended the 
gymnasium. But a great variety of exercises may 
be done upon it, and a rough one may be easily 
^ constructed, especially In the country. Secure a 
smooth loof about five feet lone and from twelve 
to twenty inches In diameter, and after rounding It 
^^^t the ends, Insert four substantial and firm legs, 
about two and a half or three feet lonof- One set 
should be about a foot from one end of the loof, and 
the other two le^s about two feet from the other 
end. 

ThiTTOg maybe covered with canvas, under which 
a little straw or hay may be placed, or it can be used 
without a covering. By attaching curved pieces of 
wood to the log, pommels are supplied which will 
greatly add to the usefulness of the apparatus and 
to the number of feats that may be performed upon 
It. 

All kinds of vaulting and many easy tricks are 
done on the horse. 

None of this apparatus can be constructed with- 
out perseverance .and patience ; for trifling difficulties 
will nearly always arise, which, owing to the differ- 
ent conditions under which boys may work, cannot 
be considered here. 



HINTS FOR YACHTSMEN. 



BY CAPTAIN JULIUS A. PALMER, JR., 

0/ the American Shipmasters' Associatiojt. 

I. ON BOARD. 

LORIOUS sport is yachting-.' 
It is, however, a pastime of 
recent introduction ; many 
of those who are not con- 
sidered old remember when 
its nucleus was no more 
than occasional " sailboats," 
owned by private parties, or 
let for excursions ; now, from 
the mosquito fleet of some 
sheltered bay to the five- 
hundred-ton steam yacht, 
able to circumnavigate the 
globe, the shores of both sides of the Atlantic 
swarm with craft of every size and description, 
manned and managed by volunteer sailors. 

164 




HINTS FOR YACHTSME.X, 



165 



The earth's surface is, to the extent of two-thirds, 
covered with water, and there has always been a 
proportion of the human race 
Hving- upon the ocean. Yacht- 
ing is, therefore, a perfectly nat- 
ural development ; and its possi- 
bilities are, in the future, greater 
rather than less. This beinof the 
case, just as the boy who enters 
a store looks at the European 
buyer, the head salesman, or 
the manager of some depart- 
ment, as the 
\ |\ holders of po- 

s i t i o n s to 
2' which he may 

aspire, so 
-_-— from his cat- 
boat along shore . he 
ma)' see the sea- 
going yacht, under 
Off for a Cruise. Steam or sail, taking 

her departure for the 
broad ocean, and form for himself the resolution 
that by the time he can hope to have such a one, 




1 66 



THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 



he will know all that is essential to her proper 
management. 

The Concord philosopher, Emerson, tells us to 
fit ourselves for any position, and God will send 
the opportunity; ignorance is no disgrace, but it 
is a shame to be willing to remain ignorant; so 
the young man who owns a twenty-foot boat may 




master, and even practise, principles which will 
make him a better yachtsman, and, if he persevere, 
a thorough sailor. 

Take first the mariner's compass, for it is the 
most essential of any of his belongings ; we can 
cross the ocean without a chart, but not without 
a compass. 

"When ministers try poor sailors to teach, 
Compass, no chart, is the figure of speech." 



B^^« 


,. W/B/KKjf^^^^^'^^?^^^^^'''^^^?^'^- ^^ 


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HINTS FOR YACHTSMEN. 1 69 

I was once on a )acht in Salem Harl)or; tlie 
skipper was a man of experience ; it had been 
foggy, then had cleared a trifle, with a light ]>reeze; 
and as night was coming on, all sail was made for 
home — that is, according to the bearings relied 
on by the skipper. I was not just satisfied, and 
took the liberty, although only a guest, to ask him 
if he had a compass. 

" Oh, yes ! " he said ; '* there's a box-compass 
down in my bunk." 

I hastened below, and on my return startled him 
with the information that he was then steerino- due 
east. The schooner was put about at once. 

Now, the nautical custom is, in fair weather 
or foul, along shore or on the deep sea, to never 
lose sight of the lubber's-point of your compass ; 
the proper place for a steering-compass is just 
forward of the wheel or tiller ; if your yacht is 
roomy aft, a metallic binnacle can be fixed at the 
right spot ; but if you have only a cat-boat, a neat 
box holding a small compass can be secured to the 
slide over the companion way, or entrance to the 
cuddy ; thus, when you are sailing, you will nat- 
urally keep your eye on the fine black mark in line 
with the keel, and not fail to know the course you 



170 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

are steering-. The mariner's compass has the 
needle fixed to the back of the card, so that this 
latter moves on its centre ; the compass in use by 
engineers and surveyors has a fixed card, over 
which the needle rotates. 

Then, as the Government examiners in Great 
Britain say, " You must be well up on the com- 
pass," " Oh ! but I could always box the com- 
pass," interrupts one of my readers. To begin at 
one point, and name them all until you reach the 
same again, is pretty practice for the memory, and 
that is about all. You should know your compass 
just as you know your watch ; the face of the latter 
is divided into hours, minutes, and often seconds ; 
that of the former, besides the points, into degrees, 
minutes, and seconds. Of late, it is customary to use 
the latter, rather than the points, so that a vessel's 
course might be given as N. 45° E., instead of N. E,, 
the one term being equal to the other. Space does 
not permit further Illustration ; but for a few cents a 
compass card, marked for both degrees and points, 
may be bought, and a little study will enable you to 
master this, the very a b c of nautical knowledge. 

By the compass and chart, the distance of your 
yacht from any vessel, or any point of land, may 




The Winner of the Race. 



HINTS FOR YACHTSMEN. I 73 

be found ; this may seem paradoxical, yet it is so 
simple that it can be explained in a few words. 
Suppose that Nahant, east point, bears due west, 
and at the same moment the south point of Marble- 
head is seen bearing due north ; now, is it not per- 
fectly clear that if you rule a line on the chart, 
running in the directions given from each of these 
points of land, at the very spot where those two 
lines cross, your yacht must be lying? Or again, 
suppose you are running past Boston Liglit, visible 
twenty miles, bound for the north shore of the bay, 
how far are you from it ? The first bearing of it 
you have is W. N. W., and you rule a line from the 
Light running indefinitely from that direction out to 
sea ; in about an hour it has changed its bearing, 
as you have sailed north, say five miles, so that it 
now bears W. S. W. ; rule another line to corre- 
spond ; now go to the edge of the chart, and ex- 
tend your dividers five miles, and move each arm 
of the instruments along the two lines you have 
ruled ; there will be but one place where the dis- 
tance between the two ruled lines is equal to just 
five miles ; at its northern limit is the spot where 
your )acht is ; at its southern is the place where 
she was when you took the bearing. 



174 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

The compass-card has no needle affixed to its 
under side, but it is useful to you in this way : run 
a stout thread through the centre, and put a knot 
in one end, letting the other remain to a length of 
about fifteen inches ; now, when you wish to know 
in what direction any place is from another, go to 
the chart, put the card plumb with the chart's pro- 
jection ; that is, let the north point on the card be 
at the exact north, etc., and keeping it thus, by 
moving either the east and west points on a parallel 
of latitude, or the north and south points on a merid- 
ian of longitude, when the string runs in a straight 
line between the two places, on the margin of the 
compass-card is the true course. 

When sailing your boat as close to the wind as 
she will lie, if the sea is rough, look over the stern 
and you will notice that the wake, instead of being 
right aft, is to windward ; slanting, as a landsman 
would say. This means that she is making leeway, 
or that the wind is pressing her away from the 
course to which her head points, so that although 
the bow is headed in a certain direction, the whole 
body of the boat is sagging off to leeward ; if you 
glance at the compass as you look at the wake, you 
will obtain the amount of this deflection from your 



HINTS FOR YACHTSMEN. I 75 

Steered course, and allow it always away from the 
wind. 

Every ambitious yachtsman should begin at once 
to learn both seamanship and navigation ; there are 
excellent manuals, in both branches, to be bouofht 
at the nautical bookstores. It is better to know too 
much than too little of your craft; you thus avoid 
the error of the novice in the use of the compass, 
who nailed it down at the course he was told to 
make, simply saying it was the only way — "the 
thing bobbed round so." You are also spared the 
danofer which attended the amateur master of a new 
steam yacht, which was found by the inspectors with 
the safety-valve strapped clown ; the excuse offered 
was, that " the hole made such a noise you couldn't 
talk." 

Even in the management of boats, there is much 
to be learned. Never keep the sheet of a small 
boat fast when sailing on a wind, if your craft is 
small ; always have a hand stationed at the cleat to 
which it is belayed, providing your boat is too large 
to allow you to hold a single turn with your hand. 
This is the very first principle of sailing a yacht 
with safety. For, if the breeze freshens, or a squall 
strikes you, and you slack the sheet of a fore-and- 



176 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

aft sail, it becomes no more than an immense flag, 
blowing loosely to leeward ; your boat cannot cap- 
size, and the sail can be thus lowered or managed. 
Directions for fair-weather sailing are perhaps 
superfluous ; but suppose you are caught at quite 
a distance from land in bad weather ; then you may 
have an opportunity to show your seamanship, for 
seamen are made only by rough weather and the 
perils of their calling. Naturally, as a yachtsman, 
you would run for a harbor, and would choose such 
a one as would make of the gale a fair wind. But, 
at a time like this, accidents are likely to befall you ; 
you may lose a rudder ; you may be in a " single- 
sticker," and your only mast may be carried away, 
or the seas that follow may threaten to swamp you. 
Now, what can you do ? The first and best thing 
in such cases — that is, a rule which will apply to 
most of them — is to bring your boat's bow, instead 
of the stern, to the wind ; for by its sharpness she 
will ride far easier, or divide the combers with less 
danger to herself. If she is still manageable by the 
helm, this should be at once done; if not, a small 
piece of canvas, even an open umbrella, well aft, 
where some boats carry a little sail called a jigger, 
will swing her head to the sea. To keep her there. 



178 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

bend a bucket or tin pail, or more than one of these 
common utensils, to a line, and throw it over at the 
bow ; the more line you can pay out, the better 
your sea-anchor will hold, and the resistance of this 
drag to the water will enable you to ride the seas 
with perfect ease, all the time drifting, instead of 
running, toward the haven you have chosen. If 
the mast — sail and rigging attached — goes by the 
board, — that is, breaks off and hangs over the side, 
— cut it loose from your boat, but do not let it 
go adrift ; make one end of a line fast as near the 
centre of gravity of the wreckage as you can reach, 
pay out on the line all you can, and make the other 
end fast at the bow of the boat ; now, as you drift, 
the surface-drag, being to windward of your boat, 
will meet each sea before it approaches you, and 
thus you will ride safely in smooth water until you 
gain a place of refuge, or receive the aid of some 
of your companions. 

By the hints here given, I desire to inspire yachts- 
men with ambition for their higher duties. By con- 
stantly learning something of one's vocation, its 
pleasure is enhanced and its utility increased. 



HINTS FOR YACHTSMEN. 



179 




II. SEA-TERMS. 

O each profession beiong-s its own 
language. A full list of the 
terms in use aboard ship could 
scarce be printed between the 
covers of this book ; but a few 
of such as would be used by a 
yachtsman may be mentioned. 
When you go a-sailing, you first 
*' ship " (put in place) your rud- 
der, and "step" (put in place) your mast; be sure 
to get both " pintles " directly over their " gudgeons " 
before you cast off the "painter" or get "under way." 
Suppose you wish to "weather" some dangerous 
rock " under your lee," you will haul aft the " sheet," 
which last term does not refer to a sail, but to the 
rope which is fast to the "clew" or lower " after" 
corner of a "fore-and-aft" sail. After you have 
made a short " board," let us say, on the " star- 
board tack " — that is, run a short distance with 
the wind on the right-hand side of your yacht — 
you will have to " go about," and perhaps can make 
a "long board" on the "port tack." You are now 
clear of the land, and can " gybe the boom," so as 



l8o THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

to let her " go free ; " after " running" out to sea, 
you put your "helm down" and "luff up," so as 
to speak one of your companions. If the latter 
should be a steam yacht, it is the master's duty to 
"keep out of your way" — that is, so manage his 
vessel that there shall be no danger to your boat ; a 
very reasonable rule, since with steam he can go 
in any direction, while you are dependent upon the 
wind. But if both yachts are under sail, then the 
one on the "starboard tack" has the "right of 
way," and the one on the "port tack" must "give 
way." I will not even guess at the size or the rig 
of your yacht, but it is safe to presume that the 
" clew of the mainsail " is hauled out to the end of 
a boom ; this would be true of a schooner, a sloop, 
a British cutter, or a cat-boat. A very few sail- 
boats now carry " sprit-s'ls " — that is, sails ex- 
tended to the wind by a light spar, one end of 
which spreads the head of the sail, while the other 
is supported by an " eye-splice " in a short length 
of rope fixed on the mast a few feet from the " gun- 
wale " of the boat. The edge or part of the sail 
to which the " bolt-rope " is sewed is called the 
"leech;" "the head, the foot, the after-leech, and 
the luff," are the four sides or edges, and any rope 




Rounding the Buoy. 



HINTS FOR YACHTSMEN. 1 83 

which hoists anything aloft is called its " halliards." 
The spar at the head of your mains'l is the " gaff; " 
and it is sometimes furnished with both " throat 
halliards," near the mast, and " peak halliards," near 
to the " after-leech." Your jib, or three-cornered 
sail forward of the mast, has its "jib halliards ; " it 
also has a " down-haul," while any sail which is set 
on a boom has an " outhaul." A sail is "furled" 
when it is taken in and stowed in its place; it is 
" reefed " when it is reduced in size by gathering 
in some part of it to the yard or the bolt-rope, tying 
it there by small ropes fixed in line in the sail itself. 
These are called " reef-points," while the larger 
rope which is securely passed in a lashing at the 
"bolt-rope" is called the " earing." This takes the 
strain off the " body" (the central cloths of the sail), 
and is itself restrained from tearing the canvas b)' 
being passed through an iron ring worked into the 
sail. This iron ring is found wherever it is needful 
for the sail to bear the strain of a rope, and is called 
a " thimble ; " but a piece of rope usually passes 
around it in a loop, and this entire loop, protected 
on its inner side by the " thimble," is the " reef 
cringle." You " carry awa)' " a mast or other si)ar 
when it breaks away from its fastening, or when 



184 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

a part of it breaks off. If it simply weakens or be- 
comes unsteady, it is only " sprung." 

Let us suppose that in your cruise you are far 
enough from land to sight a " square-rigged " vessel 
inward bound ; she has " hove to " for a pilot, while 
near to her may be seen the pilot-boat, usually a 
small schooner " lying to." The first-named has 
simply '* braced her main yards aback," so that 
there is as much sail-power forcing her astern as 
ahead ; while the pilot-boat, being desirous to re- 
main for hours where she now lies, has " shortened 
sail " — that is, reduced it to just enough to keep 
her hull balanced on the waves, over which she 
rides with her bow pointing almost into the wind, 
and driftinor off to " leeward." 

But the pilot goes to the " bark " (a three-masted 
vessel with one mast, the " mizzen," rigged just like 
your sloop, the two others having " yards," crossing 
the masts, on which are square sails) in a small 
boat; he seizes hold of the "man-ropes," one on 
each side of the " Jacob's ladder" hanging over the 
"lee" side in the " waist," or about half-way from 
the bow to the stern of the vessel. These ropes 
are sharply pointed at one end, and at the other 
they have a knot made not like the one a landsman 



HINTS FOR YACHTSMEN. 1 85 

would make, but squarely built in the very centre 
of the strands by passing each one of them around 
the " standing part." and through the " bights " or 
loops made with the strands. 

There are few mechanics on shore that work as 
incessantly as merchant seamen when at sea. If 
not engaged in making or taking in sail, they are 
at work on the ship's hull, its sails or its ropes ; and 
they do in their way as skilful, even as ornamental, 
work as that executed in silk or worsted b)- their 
sisters and sweethearts at home. Watch a sailor 
handle a rope, and you will notice that he does just 
the right thing for each emergency ; for example, 
he will hoist the ensign aloft in a small roll, then 
with a twitch of the halliards he shakes it out. and 
it floats in the breeze ; he will put a running bow- 
line in the end of a rope which is " rove " through 
a "block" at the "mast-head," and lower himself 
safely to the deck, when a landsman could not even 
trust himself to knot the rope securely. For each 
purpose he has its appropriate " hitch, bend, splice, 
seizing, or lashing." Far more of this ornamental 
and seaman-like work might be done aboard yachts, 
so that, however small the craft, she might show- 
that she was owned by a sailor. I thought in be- 



1 86 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

ginning this article that I miglit possibly give some 
directions as to this work, but it is not easily ex- 
plained without engravings. Mr. R. H. Dana, a 
Boston boy who went two years before the mast, 
and wrote a famous book about it, also published 
a work entitled The Seaman s FHend, in which 
may be found plates of great use to those who 
wish to learn how to handle ropes. It is also the 
most correct and comprehensive manual of sea- 
manship as practised on sea-going vessels that has 
ever been printed. We should all be proud of the 
fact that it was the work of a man of education, for 
many years a celebrated lawyer, who followed the 
seaman's vocation for the benefit of his health, but 
perfected himself in every duty of his station. So 
great is the fascination of the life of a sailor, that 
Mr. Dana himself said to me, within two years of 
his death, that he could not go to one of our v/harves 
and see a square-rigged vessel without feeling all 
the old longing to go to sea. 



HINTS FOR YACHTSMEN. 



187 



in. 



STARBOARD AND PORT. 




HEN you go a- 
sailing, remem- 
ber that every 
vessel has a for- 
ward and an af- 
ter part ; the for- 
mer is the bow, 
the latter the 
stern: these 
names are con- 
stantly appl led 
aboard ship ; 
thus, a rope is made fast forward of the mainmast, 
or a boat is ordered astern. Every vessel has 
also a right and a left side : the former is star- 
board, the latter port, or larboard ; and in familiar 
speech the two sets of men, or watches, have been 
sometimes called Starbowlines and Larbowlines. 
The words right and left are not sea-terms : if a 
man were to say that his bunk was on the larboard 
side (although port is more usual) he would be 
set down as a mariner of experience ; but if he said 
it was to the left, he would be considered a landsman. 



THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 



No one unacquainted with nautical life can realize 
how incessantly these two words are used at sea ; 
for the jibboom, there must be starboard and port 
guys ; the ship must have a starboard and port 
anchor, a starboard and port light ; square-rigged 
vessels, or those with yards, have most of their rig- 
ging alike on both sides, so we prefix to orders the 
word starboard or port, unless we use instead the 
terms weather and lee. It has been proposed to sub- 
stitute the ordinary words right and left ; but while 
with steamers or yachts no inconvenience would re- 
sult, aboard sea-going vessels such a change involves 
far more than can be apparent to any landsman. An 
order to overhaul the right clewline might be ambig- 
uous, but " Overhaul the starboard clewline " is plain. 
" Is the wheel a-port ? " cannot be misunderstood ; 
but how about " Is the wheel a-left?" 

"Right your wheel" means to bring the rudder 
in line with the keel. All ancient steering-gear was 
identical with that used by small boats to-day, or an 
arm of wood fast to the rudder-head ; every boy 
knows that to carry this tiller to the starboard side 
brings the rudder to the opposite side, and thus the 
bow of the boat is turned to port ; the first improve- 
ments in steering conformed to this rule, and the 



HINTS FOR VACHTSMEX, 



189 



wheel itself moved to the right or to the left, so that 
in old vessels a channel may be seen worn into the 
deck, where the man at the wheel has followed the 
tiller. Stationary wheels came, moving the rudder 
in the direction indicated by the wheel ; but the 
terms were not changed. So that to this day the 
man moves his wheel exactly to the contrary of the 
order, following the old rule that the vessel must go 
to the side opposite that to which the helm is put. 

The terms port and starboard only are in use on 
the sea : two vessels approaching must port the 
helm ; if sailing-vessels, the one on the starboard 
tack has right of way ; if steamers, one whistle in- 
dicates that each keeps to starboard ; two to port ; 
at night a green light is carried on the starboard 
side, a red one to port ; the distinction being easily 
recalled if )ou remember that port wine is red. 




THE ART OF SWIMMING. 

BY HARRY E. ROSE. 

SWIMMING is an art so manly, so graceful, and 
so useful, that no one ever regrets the trouble 
of learning. And every one can learn, unless he 
be physically infirm or naturally a coward. 

Dr. Franklin truthfully said : " The only obstacle 
to the acquirement and improvement in this neces- 
sary and life-preserving art is fear," The coward 
had better stay out of the water. He is safer on 
land. But he is not necessarily a coward who is 
afraid to plunge boldly into unknown water — such 
a reluctance is natural ; the best swimmer, unless 
he be foolhardy, would not do that. Some of the 
best swimmers have learned in shallow creeks, have 
practised alone until skilled, and then polished their 
self-education in deep water. 

The first lesson should be taken in a tideless 
river or quiet stream, the depth of which you have 

190 



THE ART OF SWIMMING. I9I 

previously studied. On entering the water, wet 
your head and neck thoroughly, and before sub- 
merging the body stand for a few minutes knee- 
deep. 

Having fixed your eye on a favorable spot, 
advance into the stream until breast-high. Now 
face the shore, and prepare for strikiiig out. Lie 
gently on your breast, keeping head and neck up- 
rioht, breast distended, and back bent inward. 
Withdraw the legs from the bottom, and immediately 
strike them out, not downward, but horizontally ; 
strike forward with the arms simultaneously with 
the feet, holding the hands like the blade of an oar 
when in action, fingers closed, the thumb placed 
by the side of the first finger, a little below the 
surface ; draw them back aQ;ain while or^therino- 
up the legs for a second attempt ; and thus push 
forward, making use of the hands and feet alter- 
nately. The farther forward you reach, the faster 
you will swim. The secret of a good stroke is to 
kick out with the legs wide apart. The propelling 
power is secured by the legs being brought from 
a position in which they are placed wide apart 
to one in which they are close together, like the 
blades of a pair of scissors. In this position the 



192 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

heels should touch each other ; and in drawing up 
the legs, the toes should be pointed backward 
to avoid the resistance of the water against the 
insteps. 

It may happen that you will swallow water in 
your first efforts ; but this should not discourage 
you, neither should the fancy that because you 
make but little advance you are not capable of 
learning to swim. Every beginner has his mishaps, 
no matter what the art. 

Some lads will learn to swim " doo-fashion " 
quicker than any other style ; and while it is not 
at all graceful, it gradually leads into the smooth, 
even, scientific breast-stroke, and therefore should 
hardly be discouraged. Every boy, of course, 
knows that " dogf-fashion " is that frantic motion 
of the hands and legs like a large paddle-wheel, 
in which more bluster and foam than headway are 
made; and every boy likes to swim "dog-fashion" 
occasionally, often just to " show off," or to imitate 
some friend not so far advanced as himself. But, 
" dog-fashion " swimmer, don't let such mimics 
dishearten you ; keep right on, and soon you 
will master the breast-stroke as we have de- 
scribed it, and by studying some of the tricks in 



THE ART OF SWIMMING. 1 93 

this article, you may soon have the laugli on your 
mockers. 

Having- mastered the breast-stroke, which is 
adapted to long-distance leisurely swimming, the 
next movement is the side-stroke ; it may be the 
left or right, or either. You can accomplish it by 
shooting the right arm forward, while the left, like 
an oar, is forcing the water back, and the leo-s are 
propelling- the body onward. This stroke, which 
is a powerful one, will move you on like clock-work, 
and for long distance moderately fast swimming 
is excellent. 

Then follows the alternate right-hand, left-hantl 
movement, or the overhand-stroke. This is per- 
haps the most graceful and convenient of all. In 
reaching forward, the arms are alternately brought 
out of the water, and then curved so that the tips 
of the fingers enter again directly in front of the 
head. This movement can be made very graceful 
by daintily skimming the palm along the surface, 
and merely dipping the water before it disappears. 
For short distance swimming, you will find no 
speedier stroke. Advancing the right and left sides 
of the body alternately, secures greater continuity 
of motion and materially reduces the friction ; in 



194 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

conjunction with the powerful propulsion of the 
legs, it sends you along with the speed of a fish. 
As it is very swift, so it is very exhausting ; it is, 
therefore, best adapted to racing, say fifty or one 
hundred yards. 

I once saw Dennis F. Butler, the ex-champion of 
America, finish a seven-mile race against the tide 
with this overhand stroke ; and he did it in a pecu- 
liar manner. With every dip of the arm his head 
would go under water ; and thus he lolled, yet fairly 
plunged for the goal, taking breath every time he 
turned on his sides. 

The boy aspirants to racing honors will do well to 
practise this movement diligently. 

Back performances are more easily learned than 
those on the breast, and floating is quite simple. 

Turn yourself over on your back, as gently as 
possible, elevate your breast above the surface, put 
your head back, so that your eyes, nose, and chin 
only are above water. Keep in this position with 
the arms and legs extended, the latter perfectly 
rigid. Now, move the hands from right to left 
horizontally, fast or slow as you choose, and you 
will find yourself buoyed up and gradually moving 
along. If you wish to make greater speed or swim 



THE ART OF SWIMMING. 1 95 

on your back, begin to work your legs, precisely as 
in breast swimming, taking care not to lift the knees 
too high nor to sink your hips and sides too low. 
Keep yourself as straight as possible. You are now^ 
progressing finely — getting along easily and speed- 
ily. If your arms grow tired, lay them on your 
breast, but keep the legs going ; thus you can rest 
your arms ; if your legs tire, let them remain quiet, 
and renew work with your hands. Thus alternating, 
you will find yourself able to cover a long distance 
without fatigue. 

Just at this stage of progress you will be anxious 
to dive. There is great sport in this ; but it re- 
quires practice to dive " cleanly." 

Diving may be performed from the surface of the 
water, when swimming, by merely turning the head 
dow-nward, and striking upward with the legs. It is, 
however, much better to leap in, with the hands 
closed above the head, and the head foremost, from 
a pier, boat, or raised bank. The proper attitude 
for a " clean " dive — which means without splashing 
more than the sharp cut of the hands — is to place 
the hands over the head, close toQfether, o-ive a 
sudden spring, and descend through the air, heels 
together and body perfectly stiff. Your hands will 



196 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

cleave the way for your body, protecting your head, 
and you will pass beneath the surface just like the 
inimitable bull-frog- — the master-diver. 

By striking with the feet, the same as in swim- 
ming, and keeping the head toward the bottom, you 
can drive yourself to a considerable depth. 

If you wish to reach the surface, turn your head 
upward and work your hands, up and down ; you 
will ascend like a flash. 

To turn under water, merely swim in whichever 
direction you wish. 

Some swimmers prefer to keep their eyes open 
while beneath the surface ; I do not consider it wise, 
as the strain is great, and often foreign substances 
in the water are liable to injure the eyeball. Of 
course, if you dive for an object at the bottom, you 
will need to open your eyes to find it ; at other 
times I advise you to keep them closed. 

Swimming under water is accomplished by the 
ordinary stroke, but take care to keep your head a 
little downward and strike a little higher with your 
feet than when swimming on the surface. 

Perhaps as easy a way as any of learning to swim 
under water is by beginning, in shallow water, to 
simply sink below the surface of the water. This 



THE ART OF SWIMMING. 1 99 

can be done by letting the air escape from the hinj^s, 
so that they lose their po\v(-T of buoyancy. The 
beginner, having no fear of being unable to reach 
terra Jirnia, will learn far quicker in this way to be 
at home beneath the surface than if he attempts to 
swim at the outset. When once confidence is 
gained, all that remains is to learn the trick of stay- 
ing below the surface when the lungs are inflated. 

If you have successfully practised these lessons, 
you are familiar with the three essential elements of 
swimming, and in prime condition to study a few 
tricks. 

" Treading water " is a fine feat. To tread with- 
out the use of the hands, work your feet up and 
down, precisely as though ascending a flight of 
stairs, only with more speed and steadiness. You 
will find this very simple, and oftentimes you can 
stand where the water is a fathom deep and by 
treadino: hold the hands hiofh over the head, and 
make the uninitiated suppose you to l)e on the 
bottom. In this position, also, you can walk a con- 
siderable distance, when you are expert. If )ou 
want to ease your legs, put your arms under, and 
work them horizontally right and left, as in floating. 

The feat of breast-swimming without the use of 



200 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

hands requires strength in the legs and back. At 
best, but a short distance can be made in this way. 
The same may be said of swimming without the use 
of the Jegs. But it is well to practise both of these 
movements — they may save your life in the event 
of cramp or accident. 

To show the feet while floating, bend the small 
of the back downward, support yourself by moving 
your hands to and fro just above your breast, and 
stretch your feet above the water. Now, if you 
wish to swim on your back, feet-foremost, make 
precisely the same stroke as in breast-swimming. 

To swim with one hand out of the water, say the 
right, turn on the left side, and vigorously use that 
arm, and the legs. 

If you wish to turn while on your back, keep one 
leg still, and embrace the water beside you with the 
other ; you will thus find yourself turning to that 
side on which your leg by its motion embraces the 
water, and you will turn to the right or left accord- 
ing to which leg you use in this manner. 

There are a variety of feats performed by expert 
swimmers ; such as floating on the back with the 
arms above the surface ; taking- the left leo- in the 
right hand out of the water when swimming on 



THE ART OF SWIMMINC;. 20I 

the back; pulling- the riqht liccl ])y lh<> riq;ht hand 
toward the back, when swiminino- in thv, common 
way ; throwing- somersauhs in the wat(M", Ijackward 
and forward, etc., for which no particular chrections 
are necessary, as you will be able to do them and 
any tricks which )our fancy may sugg-est. 

A few hygienic hints for swimmers will sun-ly 
not be out of place here. 

Do not bathe too soon after eating ; an interval 
of an hour and a half at least, should be allowed. 
Do not bathe when tired out, either mentall\- or 
physically — always wait till )ou feel rested. The 
best time for this exercise is in the forenoon, be- 
tween breakfast and luncheon. 

If overheated on arriving- at the water, do not re- 
move your clothes until the excessive feeling of 
heat has passed, and )our breathing and circulation 
have become regular ; never expose the skin to the 
direct action of the air when overheated. 

Keep in motion after you have gone into the 
water ; do not stand around chatting and lounging. 
As soon as you have swum sufficiently, dry yourself 
thoroughly, put on your clothes, and keep the blood 
in circulation by exercise. 

Do not stay in the water too long — half an hour 



202 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

is long enough for the strongest man. More deH- 
cate persons will find that too much ; for some, ten 
minutes should be the limit. Fifteen minutes is a 
good average for all. 

If seized with cramp, endeavor not to be alarmed, 
but strike out vigorously with the affected limb, or, 
turning on the back, extend it forcibly into the air. 
By paddling with the hands you can easily reach 
shore, or keep afloat until assistance is rendered. 

And, never, never " duck" your weaker brother! 
The poor fellow might take fright, and never again 
essay to learn ; besides, you might accidentally 
drown him. 

In conclusion : if you have followed these sugges- 
tions, not merely mentally, but in the " aqueous 
element," as the student would say, you will have 
become dexterous swimmers, and soon shall be able 
to join Byron in this stanza : — 

" How many a time have I 
Cloven with an arm still lustier, breast more daring, 
The wave all roughened ; with a swimmer''s stroke 
Flinging the billows back from my drenched hair, 
And, laughing, from my lip the audacious brine. 
Which kiss'd it, like a wine-cup, rising o'er 
The waves as they arose, and prouder still 
The loftier they uplifted me." 




SPORT IN THE WATER. 

BY ALEXANDER ni.ACF<. 

NY one who has ever seen 
a tub race — and those 
who have not ma)- 1)c as- 
sured that they have missed 
one of the funniest siolits 
in the world — will remem- 
ber the screams of laughter and little shrieks of 
momentary fear that come from the spectators 
when the first conspicuous tub turns wrong side 
up, and dumps its occupant head-first into the 
water. For the moment, it seems to those of the 
audience who are unskilled in swimming as it 
the overturned racer were certain to drown, l^ut 
very soon his head pops up through the foam, the 
tub is righted, and. if the racer is skilful, the uncer- 
tain craft is manned again. By and by the specta- 
tors begin to realize, if they never have before, that 

203 



204 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

there is really no danger that any one will drown, 
and every new mishap brings more laughter and 
fewer sounds of fright. 

In fact, while it is easy for everybody to think of 
sport on the water, a comparatively small number 
are able to fully appreciate the idea of sport in the 
water. The seaside bather cannot be said to know 
what water sport means ; for the seaside bather, in 
the great majority of cases, does not know how to 
swim. Only those who know how^ to swim can really 
know what water sport is ; for only these can know 
what it is to be free, safe, and " at home " in the water. 

Probably water sports are as old as any other kind 
of sports. The very fish in the depths of the lake, 
in the shallows of the brook, or in the clear green 
depths of the sea, are continually giving a hint of 
the gayety that is to be found in the water. Life 
under water has many amusements. Seals have set 
games that they romp in, day after day, when the 
weather is invitinQ^. Naturalists tell wonderful sto- 
ries of the fishes and of those animals who can get 
along very comfortably both in and out of the water. 
And does anybody suppose that the boys of antiq- 
uity did not follow the sportive example of the 
light-hearted frog ? 



SPORT IN THE WATER. 205 

Among wild people living near any sort of deep 
water, there have always been water games. Indian 
boys were experts in various contests and festivals 
in the water, and some of the South Sea Island boys 
seem to c^et alonor about as well in the water as out 
of it. 




Winning t/ie Tub-Race. 

Tub-racing, which is a very old sport, is to be 
cj,assed with sports in the water, like swimming, 
rather than with sports on the water, like? rowing or 
sailing ; for it is understood that the tubs turn over 
a good deal, and that cleverness at swimming and 
manoeuvring in the water will come into play. And 
of course tub-racinof crets its main excitement and 



206 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

fun not SO much from the mere progress of the tubs 
as from the continual chance of accident — that is, 
the comical accident of the racer's plunge into the 
water. 

Somebody who understood how much delight was 
to be had from the make-believe danger of this kind 
of accident, as well as from other absurd intentional 
blunders, invented the modern water circus. For 
there is such a thing as a water circus, a circus 
with a ring — but a ring of water instead of sawdust. 

Away back in the old Roman days the water 
circus was a wonderful affair. Arenas would be 
flooded, and naval battles would be fought between 
great galleys for the amusement of the emperor and 
the people. Things are not on quite so vast or se- 
rious a scale now, however ; and the water circus, as 
it is seen in Europe to-day, is but one of the fea- 
tures of an ordinary . circus. But, the American 
reader will ask, how can a water circus be part of an 
ordinary circus? Can they flood the ring? And 
even if they did, would it be deep enough for any 
kind of water sport ? The fact is, that they do not 
flood an ordinary ring, which would not hold more 
than an ankle-deep puddle ; but this is the way it 
is done : — 



SPORT IN THE WATER. 2O7 

When that point in the circus programme that 
is set for the beginning of the water show has 
been successfully reached, a small army of clowns 
and "supers" begin dragging into the arena sec- 
tions of an iron tank, which, amid much ludicrous 
play on the part of the clowns, is fitted together 
in the ring, before the eyes of the amused and 
expectant audience. The pieces lock tightly to- 
ofether, and a hucje roll of rubber that is tumbled 
into the circle with many comical struggles and 
mishaps, is spread out to make the bottom of the 
lake thoroughly water-tight. When this has been 
done, a bridge, generally with a double arch and 
a central platform, which has been suspended over- 
head with the trapeze bars and other circus para- 
phernalia, is lowered to the little lake and duly 
fits into its place. 

On one side of the ring — now the lake — a 
series of embankments rise to the musicians' gal- 
lery. At the proper moment, generally when the 
attention of the audience is directed to the final 
preparations in the circle below, there is a gush 
of water from under the gallery, and a fine cascade 
splashes its way over the embankments down to 
the now completed tank. Generally somebody 



208 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

screams at the first roar of the water ; then every- 
body joins in shouts and stampings of applause 
at the sight of the waterfall, which dances and 
sparkles and splutters in the rays of the electric 
light. The cascade is, indeed, one of the great 
features of the show ; for the electric glare changes 
in hue, until the bubbling torrent, from seeming 
like a flood of very green sea-water, turns to a 
crimson and then to a golden shower, and is once 
more foamino- white ag^ain. 

And then, while the water is splashing, and the 
people are laughing and chattering, and the band 
is performing with great energy, the clowns toss 
several screaming ducks into the lake, which is, 
of course, in a very turbulent state, and gives the 
ducks a good deal to do for a little while. Very 
soon, however, the ducks make themselves at 
home, and the spectators take as much interest 
in seeing the fowl swim about as if the sight 
really were very novel indeed. 

When once the tank is quite filled, a decided 
change comes over the scene. A skiff containing 
a young man and a young woman — who is much 
afraid of the water — makes its appearance, the 
young man rowing with an- air of conscious ele- 



SPORT IN THE WATER. 211 

gance and dexterity. A group of dancers comes 
skipping over the bridge to the jaunt)' strains of 
the band. Various picturesque promenaders fol- 
low the dancers. Then a delightfully solemn, 
matter-of-fact squire makc;s his appearance, fishing- 
pole in hand, and casts a line witli every sign of 
lively expectancy. Presently he has a most extraor- 
dinary bite, one of those bites that you read about 
in the fish-story column of the newspaper. The 
squire, amusingly bewildered, tugs at the pole, 
and raises what seems to be a tremendous fish, 
whose struggles spatter the occupants of the skiff, 
and completely destroy the self-possession of the 
squire. 

While things are at this crisis, the spirit of 
mischief seems to break loose. Some mischief- 
makers who appear on the bridge complete the 
squire's anxiety by knocking his hat into the water ; 
and very soon the fisherman himself manages to 
tumble in. pole, line, fish, and all. A country 
woman with a basket, who is solicitous about the 
squire's fate, falls with a great splash, and so does 
a dude, who has been shocked to discover that 
his shoes are wet. Matters are considerably jum- 
bled in this way when a policeman ap[)ears on 



2 I 2 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

the scene. The pohceman wears beneath his uni- 
form a rubber suit which has been inflated to a 
wonderful size. He wobbles upon the bridge, 
looking about with great concern and indignation, 
askinof what all this means. In his efforts to re- 
store order or rescue somebody, he shares the 
fate of the others, bouncing into the lake in a 
manner so absurd as to excite fresh screams of 
laughter from the audience. The people in the 
water, discovering how buoyant the fat policeman 
is, at once seize upon him as a life-preserver, 
and the dude actually clambers astride of the 
portly figure, while the spectators laugh until the 
tears come. When the skiff has been overturned, 
and everything in the water is in a state of the 
liveliest confusion, a great spurt of water rises 
through the centre of the bridge, the spray of the 
sudden and graceful fountain is lighted by flashes 
of colored fire, and the water circus is at an end. 

I think it will appear to be quite natural that 
the water circus should be very popular. It has 
already appeared in this country, though not to 
the extent it has been given in Europe. It will 
probably become more popular with us as time goes 
on, though perhaps an entertainment in which so 



SPORT IN THE WATER. 



21 



many actors have to run the risk of colds and 
rheumatism may not be considered very promising 
in our climate. 

But if this should be an objection, why is it that 
the latest and most 
popular of our water 
games is played al- 
most wholly in win- 
ter ? I am speaking 
of water polo, which 
within a few years t^ 
has been crrowinor in 
favor, until it is now 
one of the most cor- 
dially welcomed of 
all our sports. Tem- 
perature has, of 
course, a great deal 
to do with a game 

that is pursued in the costume of tlu; swimmer. In 
the swimming-tanks of athletic clubs or g\mnasi- 
ums, the temperature of the water can be regulated, 
and the temperature of the air can be brought up to 
the warmth of what has been called the " Turkish 
bath" atmosphere. There is no reason why the 



V" 




GOAL 




^ 


GOAL 


°FULL BACKS" 


LINE 


-^ 




O 
HALf BACK 






LEFT END 


CENTER 


filGHTEMQ 






o 
a 

BALL 

o 
CENTER 






LEFT END 
o 




mCHT END 
o 




GOAL 


HALFBACK 
o 


LINE 




oFUlL BACKS o 



GOAL 

Water Pulo Diagram. 



2 14 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

same conditions cannot be supplied in summer, 
when the air is naturally warm, and the water in 
a tank, without artificial heating, would soon be 
sufficiently warm. Undoubtedly there has been, 
hitherto, little water polo in summer, because in 
the warm season out-door sports of another kind 
tempt the athlete. Lake, river, and deep-sea swim- 
ming lure him away from the narrow dimensions of 
a tank. But as water polo gains in popularity, and 
begins to take rank as something more than a game 
to be played in-doors and in winter, when other 
forms of athletic sports are comparatively inacces- 
sible, it is less likely to be set aside in the summer 
season. Indeed, water polo is continually on the 
increase as a summer sport. 

Our American water polo is simply foot-ball played 
in the water. It might seem more out of place to 
use the term foot-ball in a water game which does 
not permit the kicking of the ball, if modern foot- 
ball had not done away with a great deal of the 
kicking that once seemed the special characteristic 
of the game. The fact that foot-ball has, paradoxi- 
cally, become so much of a hand game, makes it 
much more feasible than it once might have been 
to transfer the o-ame to the water. 



SPORT IN THE WATER. 215 

Water polo is not yet an exact science, either as 
regards the manner of the game or the place where 
it is played. There is much difference of opinion 
as to the proper size of the tank in which it should 
be played. Some players hold to a deep tank, in 
which everybody would have to swim throughout 
the game. Others are much in favor of a tank with 
a uniform depth of five feet or thereabouts, so that 
the player could stand when swimming was not 
demanded. Most of the games thus far have been 
played in the regular athletic club tanks. These 
are four or five feet deep at one end, and increase 
in depth toward the other end, until there they hold 
six feet or more of water. Unless special water 
polo tanks are constructed, in-door games will prob- 
ably continue to be played in the tanks that are 
comparatively shallow at one end — although four 
feet of water is not to be despised in the opportuni- 
ties it ofives the swimmer. 

A water polo team consists of six men, who are 
organized on the same general plan as a loot-ball 
team. Thus, there is a centre rush, two end rush- 
ers, a half-back, and two full backs or goal keepers. 
The accompanying diagram will give an idea of the 
way the team ranges itself in the water. The goal 



2l6 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

boards are about four feet long and twelve inches 
wide, and on each is painted the word "Goal" in 
large letters. The boards are about eighteen inches 
above the water-line. The goal line indicated on 
the diagram is an imaginary line, running between 
two marks on the sides of the tank, four feet from the 
end. The tank we shall suppose to be one hundred 
feet long and twenty feet wide. As the side with 
the shallower end has somewhat of an advantage, 
choice of end is decided by toss at the beginning 
of the game, and the sides alternate in position. 

Only the full backs or goal keepers are entitled 
to remain within the goal-line ; and it is one of the 
duties of the judges or umpires, who stand each at 
a goal, to declare a foul against any player who 
enters the goal enclosure ahead of the ball. It is 
one of the rules, too, that the ball must be carried, 
and cannot be passed, over the goal-line. 

There are several points of difference between 
the English and the American game. In the Eng- 
lish game, as I understand, the player is permitted 
to strike or push the ball with his hand. He may 
interfere with an opponent only when the opponent 
has the ball in his possession. In this country a 
player may carry the ball in any direction, and may 



SPORT I\ THE WATER. 2\J 

"tackle" any pla\cr who either has the ball or is 
within three feet of it. 

At the moment before the beginnint:;- of the game 
the teams are marshalled on the platforms, at the 
respective ends of the tank, as determined by the 
toss. It is a moment of expectancy. The twelve 
young men in their swimming costumes make two 
attractive groups. The ball, ready for its lively 
bath, is the regulation foot-ball. The umpires, time- 
keeper, referee, are all in place. The audience 
gives signs of that tension exhibited at the moment 
in foot-ball when the two teams, drawn up in deter- 
mined lines, await that first movement of the ball 
which beofins the excitement of the o-ame. 

" Go ! " 

The ball is in the middle of the tank, and with a 
great splash the players are plunging into the water. 
The two centre rushes are swimming toward the 
ball from opposite sides of the tank, the other 
players scurrying into position behind them. I'or 
a few seconds only there is the suspense of not 
knowing which leader will first get the ball. Almost 
at the same instant the Red and the Black reach for 
the dancing globe. But the Red gets it ; and quick 
as thought he snaps it to the half-back, the end 



SPORT IN THE WATER. 219 

rusher continuing to plung-e toward tiic opposite 
goal. The half-back, clutching the ball, dives out 
of sight for an instant, but is soon seen on his way 
toward the left centre of the tank. The centre rush 
of the Blacks makes a great sweeping stroke for 
the bail, and the left end rusher of the Blacks is 
right in the swimmer's path. There is a big fluster 
of spra)-, and the left end rusher of the Reds is seen 
swimming with the ball that w^as cleverly passed to 
him. I)Ut the half-back of the enemy is alert, and 
by a swift side-stroke wrenches the ball from the 
darinor rusher, and makes for the other side of the 
tank. Here two of his team make a lively effort 
to keep a passage for him. F"ive swimmers are 
soon in such a tanele that it is difficult to determine 
who has the ball. Three or four of the figures dis- 
appear beneath the foam ; and one; man, another of 
the Blacks, is seen swimming hard for the Red 
goal. 

There is a gr(;at che(M- from the spectators as the 
lusty youth cleaves the water with his free left arm. 
But th(.' swimmer can gain but a few strokes. He 
is seized by two of the Reds ; he writhes, dives, and 
appears two yards away, rising, unfortunately, under 
the very nose of the Red left end rusher, who has 



2 20 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

waited for him. Two other Reds are but a stroke 
or two away, and all of them disappear and rise 
again. The head of the Black with the ball cannot 
be seen by the eager spectators. They are holding 
him under. Yet he seems determined not to grive 
up the ball. Re-enforcements from both teams are 
now at hand. Two of the Blacks dive with the pur- 
pose of passing the ball. But a man with his head 
under water and three or four men strugro-lino- with 
him cannot discriminate very readily in such a mat- 
ter. The plucky fellow, who cannot tell whose 
hand is friendly, must soon let go the ball, and who 
shall oret it when he does let qto ? 

Then all at once two of the players who have 
been on the outskirts of the struofo-le discover that 
the ball has come to the surface a yard away from 
the outer line of the scramble. A Red now has the 
ball. He is making; straio-ht for the rio-ht of the 
tank. The crowd of swimmers turn upon him. A 
signal has told the Reds that the ball is in their pos- 
session. Three times the ehstenino- rubber changres 
hands, the Reds still carrying it nearer and nearer 
to their opponents' goal. The Black goal keepers 
gird themselves for the struggle beyond the goal 
line. Twice the Blacks gj-et the ball. Twice the 



SPORT IN THE WATER. 221 

Reds recover it. The spectators are findincr it hard 
not to shout improperly loud, and not to stand on 
the seats. The shouts in the water often entl in a 
gurgle, and a seething hum is punctuated with an 
occasional splash on the surface. 

In the scramble at the goal-line it is again impos- 
sible to tell who has the ball, but the Reds are hold- 
ing all the ground (or water) they have taken. The 
effort is to touch the goal-board. This is no easy 
thing in the presence of two goal-keepers with arms 
like a blacksmith's. The water is white with foam, 
and every swimmer is doing his utmost to turn the 
crisis to the advantage of his side. When the ref- 
eree's whistle announces that the Reds have won 
the goal, a congratulatory shout greets the panting 
and dripping figures that leave the water for a few 
minutes' breathing-time. 

Enthusiasts in water polo think that before the 
present summer is over the game will be established 
in favor as a warm-weather sport. There is. these 
enthusiasts tell me, no reason in the world why the 
game should not be played in an\- water that is with- 
out current; and, even in a river with moderately 
strong current, it would be possible to play it across 
stream, the goals and limits being once definitely 



22 2 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

placed. Probably, however, the popularity of the 
game will result in the arrangement of warm 
weather arenas for the sport, where everything can 
be done scientifically and in order. I think it has 
been suggested that there is a good deal of 
" science " in water polo. While the game is being 
studied out, there will be a good deal of roughness. 
But this roughness will in great measure diminish 
as skill and precision are acquired. 

Whatever may become of water polo, the new 
sport has certainly given a great " boom " to swim- 
ming. All athletics in the water are based on the 
swimmer's art ; and when swimmino- is surrounded 
by proper precautions against accident, it is one of 
the most healthful forms of exercise, encourao-ine 
muscular self-confidence, strengthening the frame, 
and building up the lungs. There will always, I 
suppose, be differences of opinion as to the best 
kind of stroke. The "overhand" stroke is fast for 
a short distance; the English "side stroke" is 
highly praised, and is practised by many prize win- 
ners. But the old-fashioned "breast stroke" is not 
likely to go out of fashion for a long while. 

I suppose that in that interesting future we all 
like to talk about we shall have some surprising 



SPORT IN THE WATKR. 



223 



devices for travelling as well as amusinn;- ourselves 
in water. We already have the water bicycle. Cap- 
tain Boynton's water-shoes sound better than they 
look, and I fancy that they look better than they 
feel. As might be imagined from their appearance, 







The Water Shoes. 



these water-shoes do not permit a seven-league 
stride ; in fact, they do not permit striding at all. 
You simply have a boat on each foot, and must get 
yourself along with an oar or some other means of 
propulsion. If a person were in a hurry, it woultl 
pay to get these shoes off and swim. Cai)tain 



2 24 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

Boynton's floating-suit was better, because it did 
not give so good an opportunity for getting the 
head under water and keeping it there. With an 
umbrella up to keep off the sun, a little floating box 
of provisions and utensils, and a neat paddle. Cap- 
tain Boynton was really ready for a long and safe 
water journey. 

But the ability to swim well, and for a long dis- 
tance if necessary, is worth all the water apparatus 
that will ever be invented. 



A CANE RUSH. 



BY MALCOLM TOWNSENI). 




II) )ou ever see a " cane rush " ? 
It is not altOLrether new ; for 
when the Greek boys of the 
'l\venty-third 1 y m p i a tl — 
twenty-five hundred years and 
more a^o — tuo-fjed and strucr- 
gled for the mastery in the game of 
strength and muscle known to them as the pancra- 
tium, they were but striving for tlie prize of the 
wild olive wreath in a rouefh and tumble ofame 
which, centuries later, was to reappear in what is 
known in certain American colleges as the " cane 
rush." 

All athletic sports have in tiicm a cc.Ttain element 
of danger; all of them, pushed to extremes, may 
degenerate into brutality. The deadly pitching of 

225 



2 26 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

the base-ball field, the "slugging" of many a foot- 
ball match, have again and again brought discredit 
upon those noble tests of strength and skill. But 
the gentleman cannot be a brute ; and if but the 
demands of courtesy and manliness are kept ever 
in view, no field sport, however exciting, however 
risky, or however absorbing, need ever pass that 
border line that separates chivalry from brutish- 
ness. 

A cane rush may be reduced to a brutal level, 
and become dangerous to the participants. But 
when planned upon a manly athletic basis, and 
controlled by the spirit of friendly rivalry, it is, 
perhaps, one of the most exciting contests adopted 
by the restless college "men." When participated 
in along the lines of courtesy and courage, it enlists 
a Spartan element of honor. It is regarded as a 
duty which no loyal class member would think of 
shirking. It cements a class union that otherwise 
would never be formed, enthusiastically contributed 
to by the many secret meetings, private conferences, 
and careful "pointers" that precede the day of 
contest. 

Let me describe for you a cane rush in a certain 
college, where brutality is frowned down, and the 



A CANli RUSH. 227 

boys can be gentlemen even in the heat of 
conflict. 

It is the battle for supremacy between vSopho- 
mores and Freshmen — the class of '94 and the 
class of '95. And the sign of supremacy, to be 
borne away by the victors, is the conquered cane. 

The time at last has arrived — a cool fall day. 
The combatants are full of pluck and determination. 
After class hours the rendezvous of the collegians 
is the green field not far away — a piece of turf still 
famous as the scene of a deadly encounter between 
two rival American statesmen. 

The field is thronged with spectators. Here are 
representatives of the alumni, the professors, the 
friends, the brothers, the fathers, and a goodly 
sprinkling even of gray-haired grandfathers. 

The Sophomores have had the advantage of 
experience. The year preceding they, as Fresh- 
men, fought the '• Sophs" — the Juniors of to-day. 
This apparent disadvantage under which the Fresh- 
men enter the contest generally turns the sympathy 
of the spectator to them, so that they become; the 
centre of attraction, being the new blood ol the 
contest. 

The arena, or battle-ground, is a rectangular plot 



228 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

one hundred feet in length, with its outer Hnes 
marked and guarded by stakes and rope. A well- 
sodded part of the field is generally chosen. Across 
the centre of the enclosure a chalk-line is drawn. 
The cane is a strong, smooth, rounded stick, about 
five feet in length, and from an inch and a half to 
two inches in diameter. 

Judges chosen from the alumni are detailed to 
see that neither kicking nor striking an opponent 
takes place ; they are also to decide the final count 
of hands remaining on the cane at the call of 
" time." A " hand" is three fingers, or two fingers 
and the thumb ; both hands of one party on the 
cane is counted as two hands. A kick or blow 
decided ag^ainst a class member is a forfeit of " one 
hand " at the final count — a serious penalty. 

Signals are given by pistol-shots from the starter: 
first shot, "make ready;" second shot, "charge;" 
third shot, " withdraw." Five minutes is allowed 
between the second and the third shot. 

The contestants are the Sophomores and the 
Freshmen ; the former are the challengers. 

The men are divided into five sections for special 
work : the Gladiatorae, or centres, who hold the 
cane ; the Robustae, or strongest men ; the Avelli, 



A CANE RUSH. 



229 



or "pullers;" the SalturaL% or "jumpers;" and the 
Palaestrae, or " wrestlers." 

" Time is up! " announces the starter. Out from 
the dressi nor- room of the club-house come thr. dial- 
lengers, the " class of '94." marcliin^ under ihc 







The Gladiatoriw Holding the Cane. 



leadership of its captain, who rano"es liis miMi at the 
northerly line of the arena, forming- liis line with 
the stren^^tli in the centre, and jrraduatint;- it clown 
to tli<! "light weights" at the extreme ends. The 
" class of '95 " next marches out, and in similar 



230 



THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 



manner is lined up at the extreme south end, 
ranged accordingf to strength. 

The costume donned for the fray presents a 
gladiatorial effect ; every man is stripped to the 
waist ; the exposed parts have been rubbed thick 




^^?^ 



The Palestrae Wrestling for Time. 



with vaseline to produce a slippery surface that 
a grip will not hold. The palms of the hands are 
heavily coated with resin to overcome, in a measure, 
the greased skin. Out from under the greasy gloss 
is outlined in yellow, on the chest and back, the class 
number, " '94" or " '95," marked large and distinctly 



A CANE RUSH. 2^ 1 

with iodine. It is a " (lesh-mark " of idcntihcation, 
as class members are not always recognizable. The 
heaviest and strongest of trousers are worn buckled 
tightly around the waist by inside strapping, twine 
lashing the trousers at the feet around well-greased 
strong shoes that will not break. Every means 
is adopted to prevent the advantage of obtaining 
a "hold." 

First shot: " Make ready." 

The " centres," two o( the strongest men from 
each class, take a position on each side of the chalk 
line. The cane, after examination, is handed them 
by one of the judges ; immediately the eight hands 
twist and slide around its surface to get a lasting 
grip. 

Then the class "yell" goes up from the contest- 
ants, who now drop into a foot-racer's position and 
await the word " go ! " Each man sights the cane 
and their "stalwarts" who are holding it. anil in- 
wardly vows to do his best. 

Second shot : " Charge ! " 

And a hundred young men cover the distance of 
fifty feet in a twinkling, and come together with a 
crash and crush, taking down to the ground, almost 
unseen, the " centres," burying them three to four 



232 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

deep — each " unseen" reaching desperately, strain- 
ing every muscle to wedge his hands down to the 
cane and maintain a grip. 

Appearing like some immense octopus whose 
tentacles are human legs, this live mass of humanity 
surges, oscillates, wriggles, writhes, and struggles. 
Around its outer edge the "pullers" are active, as 
they reach into the pile and grab a leg or legs, and 
with a "long pull and a strong pull" drag out a 
powerless wight, and fling him out into the field, 
where the " wrestlers " interlock and clown him, 
keeping their hold to the last. The outer field is 
besprinkled with these wrestlers, each with his man 
in tight embrace — a realistic representation of the 
dead gladiators of the Coliseum, for in fact dead 
they are to a chance of having a " hand " on the 
cane. 

The squirming mass, head rubbing head, keeps 
up its straining; the "pullers" still haul out their 
victims and lessen the pile. Then new muscle en- 
ters the contest. With a run and spring high over 
the mass, headlong down into the central pit of 
heads, dive the " fliers," and working their way 
through by squeezing out the most exhausted, 
thrust their hands to a fresh hold of the coveted 
cane. 



A CANE RUSH, 235 

"Three-quarters of a minute yet," remarks a l)y- 
stander. It has seemed an acre since that last shot. 
Not a word is heard from the strugglers ; there is a 
bottUnof of all the reserve air in the luntrs. Grunts 
and puffs are the only exhibit of breathings ; the 
centre fairly steams from the perspiring mass. 

Bano- ! the third shot. 

The struo!"Q:le ceases and the livinor mound dis- 
solves ; the upper tier is disentangled, the second 
strata backs off carefully, the third layer is rolled 
off, and then the judges, demanding stillness, note 
the names of the victors who hold the " mark of 
three " that counts for his class.^ Swathed with per- 
spiration and dirt, with back tatooed by scratches 
of button or shoe, and face etched with finger-nail 
or pebble, one by one the rushers are picked up 
and led to quarters, proudly passing inspection, 
and displaying their battle scars and ragged rai- 
ment. 

The judges announce the score. It stands, "thir- 
teen hands for '94," and " sixteen hands for '95." 
The crowd shouts its approval ; loud and strong is 
given the class yell of '95; and '93 (the Juniors), 
who back the winners, echo the F'resh yell with 
their own. 



236 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

It is the first victory for a Freshman class in the 
history of the college. 

The victory gives the privilege to the Freshmen 
to carry a cane for a year, and denies it to the 
Sophomores for the same period. The buttonhole 
in the lapel of the coat of each Freshman the next 
morning sarcastically carries to class a miniature 




'Ninety-fiiue ! 

cane, and each man expresses a desire to see a 
Soph walking with a cane, that he can exercise his 
battle-won privilege of breaking it. 

When the next fall comes around, the Freshman 
of to-day becomes the "Soph" of to-morrow, and 
must again fight over the cane to maintain the su- 
premacy he has won. A rough and tumble game, 
do you say ? I grant it ; but, as I said at the outset. 



A CANE RUSH. 237 

a cane rush, when "rushed" l)y young gentlemen 
who can keep their heads cool and their hearts 
friendly, however may go the day, is able to be 
carried out, from start to finish, along the lines of 
courtesy and courage. 



HURDLING. 



Intercollegiate Champion at the High Hurdles, 1888-89. 

EXCEPT among athletes and college men, in- 
terest in the minor athletic sports is, com- 
paratively, confined to so few people that it would 
not be strange if many young Americans had never 
seen, nor even heard of, a hurdle race. Hence, 
perhaps, it is advisable to begin by briefly describ- 
ing one. 

As the name implies, the race is run over hurdles. 
The hurdle is of wood, and consists of two uprights 
and a cross-bar. This cross-bar is either two feet 

* Herbert Mapes, of the class of 1890 in Columbia College, was drowned 
while bathing in the surf at Fire Island, in the summer of 1891. He was a 
young man of rare promise, distinguished in his college, and much beloved 
by his classmates and a wide circle of friends. His record for scholarship and 
in athletics was equally high, and his work at the hurdles was almost phe- 
nomenal. This article on hurdling, written by him, is here reprinted by 
permission of his father, Mr. Charles V. Mapes, and of the St. Nicholas 
magazine, in which the article originally appeared. 

238 



HURDLING. 239 

six inches or three feet six inclies from ihr. oroiiiid, 
accordino- to the distana; to he run. The lon'-cr of 
the two distances commonly run 1)\- hurdlers is two 
hundred and twenty yards, and for this the hurdles 
are two feet six inches high ; the shorter distance 
is one hundred and twenty yards, with the hurdles 
three fe-et six inches high. There are generally ten 
hurdles, which are set across a track, or path, made 
either of fine cinders or of turf. When arranged 
for the race, these ten hurtlles are technicall)- known 
as a " flight." The contestants are drawn up in a 
line a few yards from the first hurdle, and at a given 
signal they run and jump each hurdle in succession, 
the one who first reaches the finish-line being the 
winner. 

Now, hurdling, being merely a coml)inati(Mi ot 
running and jumping, might appear to require no 
special ability. Some people foolishly believe that 
any boy who has long legs must be a fast runner; 
and, more reasonably, those of better judgment 
migrht be led to infer that a o-ood runner and 
jumper must necessarily be a good hurdler. Hut 
experience has shown that this is not the case. 
Not every good runner and jumper makers a good 
hurdler; and. strangely (Miough, some ol tlu: most 



iUKDi.iNr,. 241 

celebrated hurdlers have been neither very last 
runners nor exceptionally l;(kh1 jumpers. Vow be- 
sides skill in running and junipinq-, other (jualities 
are necessary ; and it is in these that the true o-enius 
for hurdling seems to lie. Without special skill, 
which can come only after long practice, success in 
hurdlinof is not to be attained. 

It is difficult with few words to make clear in just 
what this skill consists, or why so much practice is 
necessary. Perhaps the best way to e.\i)lain matters 
is to indicate some of the difficulties that appear 
before the new hurdler when he becfins his trainino-. 
Suppose, for instance, he is training for the shorter 
race of a hundred and twenty yards, where the 
hurdles are three feet and six inches high, and 
are set ten yards apart. 

Like all other athletes, the hurdler must undergo 
a regular course of training in order to acquire 
strength and endurance; but from the very begin- 
ning he concentrates his attention more especially 
upon his "style." The first particular to be con- 
sidered is, naturally, the manner of jumping over 
the hurdle. As the race is one of speed, it is of 
great importance for him to learn to clear the 
hurdles with as little room to spare as possible. 



242 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

He must learn to "take" the hurdle without chan- 
ging his stride or stopping his speed, — in such a 
way that jumping the hurdle comes as near as 
possible to ru7tning over the hurdle. With this 
end in view, he sets up a single hurdle and betakes 
himself to practising the jump. When in this he 
has succeeded to his satisfaction, he sets up two 
hurdles, and practises taking them in succession. 
And here a new and very important question arises. 

The hurdles are ten yards apart ; and after he has 
jumped the first and run to the second, he very often 
finds himself coming before it with his wrono- foot 
foremost. In order to jump, he must slacken his 
pace and change his stride. Here is a difficulty. 
He must devise some way of jumping the hurdles 
in succession without hesitating between them. 
There are two or three methods of doing this, 
though one method has come to be regarded as 
the right one. 

In the first place, he may practise jumping from 
the wrong or awkward foot, and so be prepared to 
jump in whichever way he may come to the hurdle. 
But the hurdles are too high to make this plan 
practicable, and it is generally abandoned after a 
few days' trial. (It is, however, only in the shorter 



IIL kDi.iNd. 243 

race that the hurcllcs arc so liigh as to prevent 
this method from bein^^ successful. Thir low 
hurdles, two feet six inches high, used for the 
longer race, have been jumped from alternate feet 
with notable success by A. I"'. Cop('laiid, the 
American champion.) 

With the hicrh hurdles there is but one cfood 
method. A hurdler must either shorten his natural 
stride and learn to take five steps bewe(.'n hurdles, 
or he must lengthen it cor.f/iclcrably and take; only 
three. In either case he is brought to the suc- 
cessive hurdles witli the same foot. But taking- 
five steps makes the stride too short to allow of 
fast running ; and, although many of tlu; poorer 
hurdlers have used this method, it cannot be re- 
garded as successful. So there is nothing for the 
hurdler to do but continually to practise taking 
three long strides, imtil this becomes natural to 
him. 

Even when the hurdler has learned to jump knv 
and fast, and to take three strides between the 
hurdles, the development of "style" is hardl)- more 
than beg^un. There are a thou.sand and one re- 
quirements in the turn and twist used in the jump; 
and it is in the methods of taking the hurdle that 



244 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

the marked differences between advanced hurdlers 
are shown. Here the individuaHty of each hurdler 
asserts itself. After he has attained a certain de- 
gree of proficiency, his attention is confined almost 
wholly to perfecting his " turn," the aim always 
being to clear the hurdle as closely as possible with- 
out interfering with speed or stride 

This, as might be supposed, leads to frequent 
accidents, and is the chief source of danger in 
hurdling. In his anxiety to take the hurdle closely, 
the hurdler sometimes jumps too low and strikes 
the hurdle ; the result in many cases being a heavy 
fall on the cinder-path. But it takes a strong 
knock to tumble, or even to stagger, an experienced 
hurdler. Indeed, the best hurdlers have been 
known to win races in which they struck nearly 
every hurdle, and even knocked down a number 
as they went along. 

A. A. Jordan, the celebrated hurdler of the New 
York Athletic Club, contracted the habit of striking 
hurdles to an extreme degree. Yet this did not 
seem to interfere in the least with his success ; nor 
did it mar the beauty of his style, which was per- 
haps better than that of any hurdler who had then 
appeared in America. He was the first exponent 




L, 



_ ■ f'T"'! 



HurdliiKj on Skates in Canada. 



246 THE I5f)OK OF ATHLETICS. 

of the peculiar finished style that has been adopted 
by so many leading hurdlers of to-day ; and, indeed, 
he might perhaps be called the " Father of Ameri- 
can Hurdling." He and Copeland of the Manhat- 
tan Athletic Club were at one time the best-known 
hurdlers in America, and their struggles for suprem- 
acy have been hard-fought and brilliant. 

After a hurdler has perfected his style, and is in 
the pink of condition, all ready for the race, there 
is no prettier sight on the athletic field than to see 
him taking a practice-spin over the whole flight of 
hurdles. True and strong in his motions, runnino- 
and jumping with all his might, he yet rises and 
falls lightly as a bird, handling himself so gracefully 
withal, that, to a mere observer, the sport appears to 
be without difficulty. 

The real question of supremacy each year con- 
cerns only three or four hurdlers, who make the 
great championship struggle. All the .others can 
expect only lesser honors, though always there are 
many who have secret hopes of improving sufificiently 
to enter the first rank. In order to provide oppor- 
tunity and incentive for the mass of athletes of no 
special distinction, numerous handicap races are held, 
in which the different competitors are allowed starts 



IllTRDI.INC. 247 

according to their supposed al)Ilities. Of course 
there is no oreat interest at stake in these trames 
beyond the indivichial desire to win. Even for the 
novice the honor of victory is much diminished on 
account of the handicap in his favor ; and among 
athletes the winning or losing in such cases is con- 
sidered of less importance than the merit of the 
performances. But for all that, there is always 
a certain satisfaction in beinof victorious ; and the 
prizes given, in themselves, make success worth 
strivinof for. 

From this fact there is quite a large class of 
athletes, called " mug-hunters," who have no further 
ambition than to win as many of these handicap 
games as possible. As it is essential to their suc- 
cess that they should have big handicaps, they use 
every means to conceal their true ability, whatever 
it may be, and always take pains to win a race by 
no more than is absolutely necessary. P'ortunatel)-, 
however, such athletes are hardly more than tolerated ; 
and the name " mucf-hunter " has c(Mne to be used 
as a term of reproach. 

A handicap hurdle-race, although then; an; no 
great interests at stake, is a very pretty sight. 
When the contestants take their positions for the 



248 THE BOOK OF ATtlLETICS. 

race, it looks like a hopeless struggle for the 
" scratch" man (that is, the one who stands farthest 
back of all the contestants, and who allows " starts" 
to all the others. He is called the "scratch" man 
because he toes the " scratch," or line, at the begin- 
ning of the course). Often he is small in stature, 
as is Copeland, for instance ; and when he stands 
there with the other contestants, many of them 
larger and stronger than he, and some of them ten 
or fifteen yards in advance of him, the arrangement 
appears altogether unfair, and the spectator, who is 
likely to regard the " scratch " man's chance as hope- 
less, is filled with sympathy for him. When all is 
ready, the starter calls out, " On your marks ! " All 
stand upright in their positions. " Settle." They 
all lean forward, ready for the start. " Bang ! " goes 
the pistol, and they are off ! The leaders are almost 
to the second hurdle before the "scratch" man 
reaches the first ; it seems impossible that he should 
overtake them. But now see skill and speed tell. 
While they rush and jump clumsily and high, lum- 
bering along with all their might, truly and prettily 
he skims the hurdles and flies over the eround. Yet 

<z> 

the handicap seems too large, and they are three- 
quarters through the race before he has had time 



250 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

even to close up the gap between himself and the 
man nearest him. As they draw closer to the finish, 
his speed seems to increase ; and he shoots by them 
one by one, until, when the last hurdle is reached, 
he is abreast of the leader. Then with a burst of 
speed he rushes for the tape, and wins the race ! 

Of course the " scratch" man does not always win ; 
but if he is in his best condition, he is not likely to 
be beaten. At all events he is sure to o-ive a fine 
exhibition, because to be "scratch" he must be a 
good hurdler, and often he is the champion. 

Far greater, however, in real interest than any 
handicap event are the great " scratch" races of the 
year, the amateur championships and the intercolle- 
giates, where only the best of amateur and college 
hurdlers compete, and all start even. The intercol- 
legiate contests are, perhaps, even more exciting 
than the championships, because college rivalries, 
as well as those of friends and contestants, are con- 
cerned in the result. For some five months each 
representative has been faithfully training in prepa- 
ration for the great race that lasts only a few seconds. 
A single misstep, and he feels that all the work goes 
for nothing ; his college may lose the cup, and there 
is a year's disappointment before him. 



IIL'RDl.IXC. 251 

It is no wonder that the boys are nervous as tlie)- 
take their places and wait tor th<; start. lUit wh<'n 
once the signal is oiven and the)- are off, all is for- 
gotten ; the race has begun, and ev(M'\' one l1ics over 
the hurdles, conscious onl\' that lh(; supreme momcMit 
has conic, and that he is rushing on for \ictory. 



THE RUNNING BROAD JUMP. 

BY E. B. BLOSS, 

I}itercollegiate Cliainpio7i ^1892-93. 

IN explaining my method of broad jumping, I think 
I can arrive at greater clearness by dividing the 
subject into several parts, and treating the reader 
as one entirely unacquainted with the sport. 

In the first place, it is very necessary for the 
athlete to go to work systematically ; otherwise it 
will be impossible to attain satisfactory results. 
He should, first of all, find out where his "marks" 
come. He can do this by starting at the farther 
end of the jumping-path, and running toward the 
take-off at the top of his speed. It will be only after 
repeated trials that his jumping-foot will strike the 
take-off exactly. Having succeeded in this, let him 
trace back his strides, and, at a convenient distance 
from the take-off, make his first or front mark. 
The number of strides should be determined by 



THE RL:NNI\(; liROAI) Jl'MI'. 253 

the athlete himself, who knows best liow iniich 
ground he must cover before he gets up his great- 
est speed. I am in the habit of counting back nine 
strides, which is just fifty-nine feet from the take- 
off. Suppose the athlete counts back this number. 
At the point where the ninth stride comes, let him 
make a mark along the running-path ; then from 
this mark count back about a dozen more strides, 
and make a second mark. Now lie has his two 
marks, and can feel reasonably sure that if he starts 
from the second, strikes the front inark squarely 
with his jumping- foot, and then runs nine strides 
at the top of his speed, he will hit his take-off 
exactly and make a good jump. Various condi- 
tions, however, may alter somewhat the position 
of this front mark. If the wind happens to be 
blowing noticeably in the athlete's face or on his 
back, it will have the effect, respectively, of short- 
ening or of lenofthenincr jiis stride, and the mark 
should be moved accordingly. Again, the fact 
that the running-path has just been rolletl hard, 
or chances to be wet and heavy, should also cause 
the position of the mark to be altered. Neglect to 
attend to these seeming trifles may spoil the ath- 
lete's run, and prevent him from doing himself justice. 



2 54 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

Next let us learn how to run up to the take-ofif 
properly. The athlete, having started with his right 
foot on the second mark, should run toward his 
front mark at such a rate of speed that he will 
neither fall short of strikingf it, nor oro over it alto- 
gether. If he fails to strike his front mark fairly, 
it is better to go back and try again rather than 
to take his chances, especially as there is no pen- 
alty against it. Now, suppose he has reached his 
front mark all right, and is going at the top of his 
speed toward the take-off. As he is reasonably 
sure of hitting the latter fairly, he can run ahead 
confidently, but he must not allow the length of 
his nine strides to the take-off to vary in the 
least ; otherwise he will not strike it properly. It 
is not difficult to keep the strides even, as the 
athlete has only to run naturally, with the body 
bent well forward, the arms swinging regularly, 
and his sole thought that of jumping strongly on 
reaching the take-off. If he steps over the take- 
off even a few inches, his foot will sink into a 
hollow dug on the opposite side of the jumping- 
beam, and he will make what is called a foul, which 
counts as one of his trials. There is but little 
danger of spraining the ankle on a foul ; that fear, 



THE RUNNING BROAD JUMP. 255 

therefore, should never Ijc in ninul, for ii is liaMr to 
worry hini out of his Ijcst performance. ( )n the 
other hand, if the athlete fails to get up to iIk- take- 
oft, he must lose just as much ol his jump. This 
is because his jump is not the actual distance he 
covers, but the distance from the opposite side of 
the take-off to the place where he first breaks 
ground in the jumping-bo-x. Bearing these points 
in mind, he will s(!e the necessity of comj^elling 
himseli to keep cool, and will use his strength with 
greatest effect. 

Now as to the act of jumping itself Before the 
very last stride, and while running at the top of his 
speed, let the athlete gather himself together for 
the effort. He should bend his legs under him. get 
down as low as his high speed permits, fix his eye 
on some high distant object (to secure elevation), 
concentrate his strength in his back and hi])s. aiul 
then tlirow himself into the air. .All these things 
are done in a llash, naturalK', and not mechanically. 
It is necessarw however, to omit none of them if 
the athlete wishes really to out-do himself. Now. 
just as he hits the take-off, let him snap his right leg 
(if that is his jumping-leg) up as high as he can. 
and then push it down on the take-off with all his 



256 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

power, at the same time jerking both arms up 
quickly. The snap and push will lend the athlete 
additional power, and the jerk-up of the arms give 
elevation, an essential to a long jump. Just after 
leaving the take-off, let him curl the legs under his 
body, bend the head forward, and hold the arms 
rigidly at the side with every muscle in the body 
perfectly taut, so that his own weight will not bring 
him down immediately. Then, as he feels himself 
about to land, he should have sufficient presence of 
mind to kick his legs forward, bend the head still 
further over, and alight in that position. These 
latter movements will add a few inches to the jump, 
and that is what he needs. It will be seen that the 
jump is over in a few seconds, and the athlete may 
at first fail to act on all these suggestions. Repeated 
trials, however, will impress them upon him, and 
in a little time he will find himself observing them, 
almost without thinking. 

It is well that the athlete should acquaint himself 
with the act of landing ; that is, lighting in the 
jumping-box. The method I use is to land with my 
feet together ; thereby obviating all danger of losing 
my balance, falling back, and spoiling my jump. 
The athlete should also steady himself for a moment 



THE RUNNING HROAl) JUMP. 257 

after landing, and get out of tlic dirt feet first, 
breaking the layer of dirt no more than is absolutely 
necessary. A little care may mean s(;veral inches 
to the jump. MnalK'. it is also well for the athlete 
to see to it that the measurements are cornxt. 

In conclusion, i)erhaps it is not out of |)lace to 
make a few general reniarks as to the broad jumj). 
The athlete should remember never to jump without 
first limbering himself by a brisk dash, for h(^ runs 
the liability of snapping a cord, and forever ruining 
himself for competition. He should not jump his 
best on the first trial unless lu; has been allowed 
several preliminary jumps. Ihit on the second trial 
let him go in to win ; and, if he gets a place in the 
finals, strive to improve on every effort. If possible, 
the athlete should keep his head, even under the 
most trying circumstances ; because the moment he 
becomes rattled his skill departs, and actual strength 
counts for little. Half a dozen jum[)s twice a week 
should be sufficient to keep a man in form : and a 
complete rest of three or four days before a com- 
petition (provided th(t jjeriod of training has be<'n 
rather long) is oftentimes the best thing that can 
be done. It is a good plan also lor the athleK; 
sometimes to do " staying-up " work, running, say, 



258 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

a brisk quarter of a mile once a week. On days 
when he is not jumping, the training need only 
consist in running short dashes in order to get 
up speed. As to diet, it need not be so heroic 
with the jumpers as with athletes whose work de- 
pends more on real power and less on nervous 
strength ; if he keeps his stomach in good condition, 
and does not partake too freely of liquids, he should 
be able to jump without exhaustion and in good 
form. 

Such is the method which I have followed, and 
such are the various observations that experience in 
competition for several years enables me to make. 
I can see no reason why others, with fairly strong 
natural ability and aptitude for jumping, should 
not be fully as successful as I have been, or per- 
haps beat the record that I have been able to 
make. 



SKATING. 

15V (IFARLES R. TALBOT. 

FOR your first lesson in skating, cIioos(.' a \nccG 
of ice of moderate roughness. Take plenty 
of time to learn to stand well and safely on your 
skates, and to get confidence. Your danger as to 
fallincr is not, remember, of fallincr to one side, but 
backward or forward. Learn to stand up straight. 
There is nothing so awkward as a skater who leans 
forward. Avoid, too, swinoriniif the arms about. 
They should be carried easily, much as in walking. 
Keep the feet close together, toes turned out, and 
the letrs straiq^ht and firm. 

Having come to feel somewhat at home upon 
your skates, and being able, p(;rhaps, to move 
about a little, )ou may begin at once upon the 
Plain Forward Movement. With the left foot firmly 
planted, the inner q.(\^q. of its skate bearing a little 
on the ice, boldly throw out the right foot until \\\v. 

259 



260 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

outer edge of its skate touches the ice. At the 
same time throw the right shoulder steadily forward, 
and keep the body balanced upon the right leg as 
long as possible. Then throw out the left leg and 
shoulder in the same manner, and so continue. If 
you begin with these rules well in your head, it will 
save you much painful experimenting. Having 
learned to make progress in this manner with firm- 
ness and power, you will have learned to skate. 
Any other movement, simple or complex, belongs 
to " Fancy Skating." But, first of all, this plain 
stroke must be thoroughly learned. 

The "rolls" forward and backward are the basis 
of all fancy skating. The forward outside-edge roll 
is made as follows : The impetus is obtained as in 
plain skating; but, as the stroke is made with the 
right foot, the left shoulder is brought forward, the 
right arm drawn back, and with the face looking t® 
the right, the whole body is swung easily in the 
direction of the stroke ; then the^ left foot is lifted 
from the ice, and, being brought forward, is set 
down a few inches in advance of the riorht. The 
same movement is then made to the left, the right 
skate having now its inner edge to the ice until 
ready to be lifted. The Dutch roll is performed in 



SKATING. 263 

this same manner, save that, pcrliaps. tlie roll is not 
quite so broad, the movement lxMn<j^ more nearly in 
a straight line. The marks k-ft upon the ice are 
something as in the figure. 

The outer-edg-e roll leads very easily to the cross 
roll, each foot when off the ice beincr swuner, in the 
latter, across the one on the ice and starting in its 
stroke from the crossed position. 

Having become proficient in the various rolls for- 
ward and backward, the skater is now prepared to 



Fig. 1. 

attempt for himself the almost infinite number of 
fig-ures and movements tliat make up the rest of 
fancy skating. Most of these will require long 
practice. They are, too, for the most part, almost 
impossible to be described upon paper. Vou will 
have to pick them out for yourself, getting what 
helps you may froni those about )ou who ha\e al- 
ready acquired them. 

A favorite movement, and one easily mastered, is 
that which used to be familiarly known as "Cutting 
the Derby." It is now spoken of as the " Left-over- 




264 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

Right," or the " Right-over- Left," and consists in 
skating in a circle by constantly putting the outside 
foot over forward and inside of its fel- 
low. A few steps of this figure, thrown 
in now and then, first to one side and 
then to the other, makes a very grace- 
ful and easy variation of the plain for- 
'"■ '■ ward roll. 

"Cutting the Crab" is another simple figure. 
While going forward, one foot is suddenly thrown 
out, turned and drawn heel foremost directly after 
the other ; and the greater part of a circle is then 
described, the two heels being brought close to- 
gether and the toes turned 
straight outward. This 
is a neat way of coming 
to a stop if one has plenty 
of room. 

The " Figure of Three " 
and the " Figure of Eight " 
have always been well 
known to skaters. The 

Fig. 3. 

former begins at exactly 

the same point at which one would begin in writ- 
ing the figure, and is performed on one foot, the 




SKATING. 265 

first part on the outside edge forward, and the 
second on the inside ed^e backward. The " I'iirurc 
of Eight " is a combination of two circles. A very 
pretty " Rosette" is made l)y combining a number 
of " Fio-ure of Eights, " as seen in tht^ fi'^urc. In 
this " Rosette," it will be observed, the first circle 
of the first "Eioht" is "^one over airain and asjain, 
though the second one is constantly changed. 

Then, there are all the other Arabic numerals to 
be made, and all the letters of the alphabet, if one 




Fig. 4. 

be patient and skilful enough. And there is the 
"Scissors," and the "Grapevine Twist," and the 
" Virginia Fence," which leaves a mark uj^on the 
ice that describes itself, and the " Locomotive," 
single and double, so called, doubtless, because the 
sound of its strokes somewhat resembles the puff- 
ings of an enirine, and whose track is somethini'" 
as here seen ; and there is the " On to Richmond" 
(cross one foot in front of the other, and with 
back stroke outside edofe Qfo backward or forward) ; 
and ever so many others. 



266 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

You should see a programme for a skating con- 
test as set forth by the American Skating Con- 
gress. I can assure you that the skaters who carry 
off the prizes from such contests must indeed be 

/ — / — / / / 

Fig. 5. 

artists. And if you could only get hold of one 
of these Prize Skaters, and he would go to the 
pond with you, he could teach you more of Fancy 
Skating in half an hour upon the ice than I could 
do upon paper in half a year. 



HAND-IN-HAND SKATING. 

BY W. G. VAN T, SUTPIIEN. 

Front Harpers^ Round Table. Copyright, 1S95, by Harper & Krotliers. 




T 



'HERE can be no last- 
ing interest in any 
form of sport unless some 
definite end is kept in 
view, some problem finally 
worked out, some purpose 
accomplished. There is 
no amusement in shoot- 
ing arrows aimlessly into 
the air, or in carelessly knocking tennis-balls over a 
net. The archer is intent on seeing how often he 
can hit the gold ; the tennis-player tries to i)ut that 
ball over in such a way that his opponent cannot 
return it. The score, the game — something is the 
object. 

Now, skating is one of the oldest and most popu- 

267 



268 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

lar of winter amusements, and yet how many of the 
thousands of boys and girls who anxiously await 
the hoisting of the " red ball " know anything more 
than the merest beginnings of the art ? The vast 
majority of skaters are perfectly satisfied with being 
able to progress in an aimless, desultory fashion up 
and down the ice, and keep out of the way of the 
hockey-players. And I may add that, good game 
though it is, hockey is not skating, in the real sense 
of the word ; and it can never help you to anything 
better than the ability to keep your feet (and your 
temper) in a rough-and-tumble scrimmage after a 
little block of wood or a rubber " puck." And yet 
there is somethino; better. 

Aside from speed-skating, in which few can hope 
to excel, there is figure-skating, as it is popularly 
called. It is generally supposed to be very difficult, 
and in some respects it is so. To attempt it with- 
out the assistance of a teacher requires unlimited 
pluck and perseverance. There are a number of 
books on the subject, illustrated with elaborate dia- 
grams, and everything made easy in theory. But 
the actual thing in practice — that is very different! 
It is like " French at Home, in Six Easy Lessons," 
or, "The Violin without a Master." The hard work 



HAND-IN-HAND SKATING. 269 

does pay in the end, if persevered in ; but the begin- 
ner generally gets disgusted after the first few fail- 
ures, and goes back to tag and hockey. Perhaps 
that has been your experience — you have tried, and 
found it of no use ; and yet you do envy the expert 
skater, who glides past you on the " back cross-roll" 
so easily and gracefully that you are certain that it 
must feel like flying. Well, that is exactly what it 
does feel like, and I am going to suggest a plan by 
which you may secure that delightful sensation for 
yourself at the expense of comparatively little time 
and trouble. After you have once known the fasci- 
nation that there is in true figure-skating, you 
will probably feel encouraged to take up again 
the explanations and diagrams of the discarded 
text-books. 

Hand-in-hand figures are among the prettiest 
things that can be done upon the ice from the spec- 
tators' point of view, and they are easiest for the 
performers. You have the assistance of your partner 
at every critical moment; and movements such as 
the forward-rocking turn, which require weeks of 
practice to do alone, can be executed hand in hand 
with comparative ease. In individual figure-skating 
you are obliged to advance very slowly in order to 



2/0 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

preserve correct form ; in hand-in-hand skating the 
" form " is of less importance, or, rather, it seems to 
come of itself. 

Let us take the " Mercury," or 3 -scud as the 
English call it. If you will analyze the move- 
ments in the "Forward Mercury" (Fig. 3), you 
will see that there is first a glide on the left-foot 
outside edge backward (L.O.B.), then a glide 
forward on the right-foot outside edge (R.O.F.), 
and finally a cross-roll on the left-foot outside 
edge forward (L.O.F.), which finishes in a little 
backward turn on the same foot, leaving you in 
position to repeat the movement with the right 
foot on the outside edge backward (R.O.B.). 
Examining in like manner the detail of the 
"Backward Mercury" (Fig. 4), which is done by 
your partner at the same time that you are per- 
forming the " Forward," you will notice that it is 
exactly the same, except that there are two back- 
ward glides and one forward, while in the " Forward " 
there are hvo forward glides and one backward. 

It is necessary, then, that both you and your 
partner should be able to skate the outside edge 
forward and back and make the little curl-like turn, 
and also that one of you should be reasonably pro- 



HAND-IN-IIAND SKATING. 



271 



ficient on the cross-roll backward. It sounds very 
difficult, but remember that I am not asking- you to 
attempt all this alone : the secret lies in the fact 
that you will help each other. 



THE CROSS BY l.F. 




RF CMPlOYtO. 

Fig. 1. 

The Dutch Roll. 




Fig 2 

Backward Cross-Roll. 



The outside edge forward is the first movement 
to be attempted. Try it with hands joined and 
crossed, and endeavor to make the stroke together 
— that is, in the same time. Lean boldly outward, 
and make the curve as long as possible. Try it 



272 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

again, but this time hand in hand, that is, with 
one hand free. It will be well to change sides 
occasionally. 

Now for the same edge in a backward direction. 
To put the first question in the catechism to a 
very practical use, and to simplify the explanation, 
I will assume that you are M and that your partner 
is N. Join hands (not crossed), and let M try 
the outside backward on alternate feet, while N 
keeps both feet on the ice and simply squirms 
along in a serpentine line, and helps M to preserve 
his balance. M can then perform the same kindly 
office for N. 

The only difference between the outside forward 
and the corresponding cross or Dutch roll (Fig. i) 
is that the unemployed foot, instead of being put 
down alongside of the employed, is swung entirely 
over, and set down in front of the foot on which 
you have been gliding, and which is then imme- 
diately taken up. Join hands (not crossed), and 
let N skate backward, keeping both feet firmly on 
the ice. M will then follow on the outside forward, 
remembering to cross the unemployed foot just at 
the end of the glide. After the unemployed foot 
is swung over and put down, lift the other quickly 




On the Ice. 
{Frotjt i/te painting by J. Scalbert.) 



IIAND-IN-IIAND SKATING. 2/5 

iind let it swing gently out over the ice, and then 
bring it in ready for the next cross. You will 
soon find that you will not have to push off as 
you did on the ordinary outside edge; the swing 
of the unemployed leg is quite sufficient to bring 
you around. 

Now for N's part,, the backward cross-roll (Fig. 
2), which is not quite so easy. As before, M 
will keep both feet on the ice, so as to give his 
partner a firm support. Join hands (not crossed), 
and let N take several backward steps as though 
he (or she) were walking, but crossing his feet 
alternately, the one behind the other, and turning 
the skate so that the outer edge is the one placed 
on the ice. After seven or eight steps, press the 
blade firmly into the ice as you set it down so that 
you can feel it " bite." Now give the unemployed 
leg a swing as you take it up ; let it come all the 
way around, so that you can put it down (on the 
outside edge) well crossed behind the employed 
foot. Lean out as you do this, antl let th(^ skate 
that is on the ice move freely. Your partner can 
help you immensely if he will lift up on your 
hands, and at the same time gently force )ou over 
in the proper direction. It will seem impossible 



276 



THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 



at first ; but the knack will come all in a flash, and 
you will realize that it is the twist of your shoulders 
and the swing of the unemployed leg that is doing 
the work. It is very necessary to get these for- 



TilHN. (3) 




Fig. 3. 

The Forward Mercury. 




Fig. 4. 

The Backward Mercury. 



ward and back cross-rolls as perfect as possible 
before attempting the "Mercury" proper. Unless 
you can do them, the pace quickly gets too fast 
and dangerous, and the figure is spoiled. 

There is only one thing more before* we begin 
to put our material together, and that is the little 



HAND-IN-HAND SKATING. 277 

turn on the same foot, which is technically called 
a " 3." This particular turn is very easy, and is 
the natural one that everybody uses. Make the end 
or tail short, and practise on each foot forward 
and back. 

As soon as M can be sure of his forward 
cross-roll, and N of the corresponding backward 
movement, we can try the whole figure. We will 
suppose that M has learned the " Forward," and 
N the " Backward." If anything, the " Backward" 
is the lady's step, as her partner should do the 
steering. Join hands (not crossed) and stand 
facinor each other. Endeavor to take the strokes 
together in exactly the same time. You will find 
it of advantage to count one, two, three, as in 
learning the waltz. For instance, in the " Back- 
ward," begin on the right outside forward, and 
turn a " 3 " (count one), drop on the left outside 
back {two), cross the right foot behind, and con- 
tinue on the right cross-roll backward {tJirce). If, 
now, you are looking over your left shoulder, as 
you should on a right outside back, you will be 
ready for the left outside forward, ending with a 
" 3 " {one), the drop on to the right outside back 
{two\ and the cross-roll backward on the left 



278 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

foot {three). The counting is the same for M, 
who does the " Forward ; " but he (or she) should 
be particular to see that his cross-roll forward (in 
which he makes the " 3 ") is done in exactly the 
same time that N is doing the cross-roll back. 
The steerinsf can be brouQ^ht to as higfh a deoree 
of perfection as in a ballroom. A variation of this 
figure, called the " Flying Mercury," is sometimes 
skated, the difference being that the skaters do not 
make the little turn or "3," but jump from one 
edge to another. It is very much more difficult, 
and should not be attempted without long practice 
on the regular figure. After you have become 
proficient in skating the " Mercury" with a partner, 
you can do the two movements by yourself. The 
"Forward" is particularly effective when done 
alone. 

There are many other hand-in-hand figures, 
such as " Double Mohawks," " O Scuds," and 
" Rocking Turns," which look well, done hand in 
hand. If you once learn the " Mercury," and get 
a little insight into the fascinating mystery of 
figure-skating, you will be anxious to look them 
up in the books, or seek the assistance of some 
friendly expert. 



IIAND-IN-IIANI) SKATINC;. 279 

If you have a file or the bound vohime oi Harper s 
You7ig People for 1892, look up the article on 
figure-skating, under date of March 8. It con- 
tains some valuable hints on skate-fasteninofs and 
foot-gear. Above all, don't use straps, or you will 
never be able to skate with confidence and free- 
dom. It is not strength, but suppleness of ankle, 
that is required ; and any ankle that is strong 
enough to walk on without turning is strong 
enough to skate with. Straps cramp the muscles 
and stop the circulation. Use heel-plates and a 
key-fastening at the sole, unless you can set aside 
a pair of shoes for skating only ; in this case the 
foot-stock should be permanently attached to the 
boot by ordinary screws. 



KNOTS, HITCHES, AND SPLICES. 

BY CHARLES R. TALBOT. 

ON land or on water every boy should know 
how to knot a rope, sphce two pieces of 
rope together, or make the sort of hitch which will 
best serve his purpose. 

The first thing to be sure of is the right way to 
fasten together two pieces of string or rope. That 
is a thing that some of us have to do twenty times 
a day; and it is quite probable that twenty times a 
day we do it wrong. Suppose that you wish to 
lengthen your fish-line, or add another ball to a 
kite-string : how will you do it ? Shall you lay 
the two ends side by side, and then twist them to 
gether into a knot, just as your sister would make 
one in the end of her thread ? 

If you do, you may fairly expect that your fish 
will get away with the main part of your line, or 
that presently your kite will go skurrying off far 



KNOTS, nrrcHEs, and splices. 



281 



out of your sight. Such a knot is at least as Hkely 
to shp as to hold, and, if tied in a rope, is liable 
sooner or later to cut the rope, because the strain 
is at right angles. What is really wanted is a 
Square-knot (Fig. 3, a). 

Take the two ends, and tie them together exactly 
as you would tie a " hard-knot" in your shoe-string. 






A Square or Reef-Knot. 
Fig. 3. 



A Granny. 



Fig. 4. A Becket-Hitch. 



Only you must be careful and not tie a Granny 
(Fig. 3, /?). One may slip ; the other won't. 

Fig. 4 is a Becket-hitch, the proper knot for 
joining a large and a smaller rope. It will be 
useful, for example, when the keleg-line of your 
boat is too short, and the only line at hand to 
bend on to it is a stout piece of hemp twine. 

A loop at the end of a rope — that is, a loop 
that will not draw up — is another knot that has 



2«2 



THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 



frequently to be made. And yet few people 
know how to make it. What is wanted in such 
a case is a Bowline. 

Make a bight near the end of your rope, as in 
the first cut of Fig. 5. Seize this with the left 
hand at a, and then with the right hand pass the 
end b up through the bight, around behind the 
main part of the rope at c, and down in front of 






Fig. 5. The Bowline, 



Fig. 6. 



Fig. 7. 



it through the bight again as in d. Draw this 
tight and you have the much-talked-of Bowline. 
It is a very simple matter, as you see. 

While speaking still of the ends of ropes, let us 
stop and learn to " fasten them off" properly to 
prevent their untwisting or fraying out. The 
painter or main-sheet of your boat may need such 
treatment. The simplest method is to "serve" or 
wind the end with small twine. A Single-wall 
(Fig. 6), or a Double-wall (Fig. 7), is better. But 



KNOTS, HITCHES, AND SPLICES. 



283 



better still is the Boatswain's-whipping, formed by 
making an inverted single-wall and then splicing the 
ends back over the rope itself (Fig. 8 and Fig. 9). 





Fig. 8. Fig. 9. 

The most elegant of all such, however, is the 
Stopper-knot, seen in the four figures below. 
Place the end a as in Fig. lo, holding it with 

The Four Steps of Tlw Stopper-Knot. 



<23>> 




Fig. 10. 



Fig. 12. 



Fig. 13. 



the thumb at d; pass /? around under it, r around 
under d and througli the biglit o( a, and pull tight; 
this forms a Single-wall (Fig. 1 1). Now lay a over 



284 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

d, b over e, c over b and through the bight of a, and 
draw tight (Fig. 12). 

Next pass b down around f and up through the 
bight g, and do the same with a and c, forming 

Fig- 13- 

Finally pass each strand by the side of the strands 

in the crown down through the walling to form the 

" double-crown," and cut close the ends a, b (and c), 

and you have produced the Stopper-knot. 




Fig. 15. 
A Sheepshank before it is drawn Tight Fig. 16. The True-Lover's Knot. 

A Sheepshank (Fig. 15) is a knot by which a 
rope may be made shorter, or (as a young yacht- 
woman of my acquaintance recently expressed it) 
"a tuck taken in it." If the tide has come in and 
you wish to shorten the mooring-line of your boat, 
the Sheepshank will gather up the slack for you and 
hold it firmly. 

When one wants to make an artificial handle for 



KNOTS, HITCHES, AND SPLICES. 



285 



an old jug or some other vessel, the True-Lover's 
knot is used, as seen in Fig. 16. 

Tie two loose knots, a, b, as in the first cut of 





Fig. 17. 



Fig. 17; pass the bight a through the opening y^ 
the bight b through g, pull the loops equal, and, 
to complete the knot as in second cut of Fig, 17, 
join the ends c, d, by a long splice at e. 





Fig. 18. Fig. 19. Fig. 20. 

The Jar-sling, seen in Fig. 20, serves a similar 
purpose. In a long piece of cord, make a large 
loop as in Fig. 18, and hold the bight against the 



286 



THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 



standing parts, a, a ; pass the thumb and forefinger 
of the other hand down through c, lay hold of b 
where the crook of the imaginary wire is seen, and 
draw it through c down a little below a, a, as in 
Fig. 19, d, and hold it there. Now pass the thumb 
and forefinger down through the opening e (in the 
way the wire goes), lay hold of g, and draw it up 
through e, forming the complete knot as in Fig. 20. 




Fig. 21. 





Fig. 22. 
Ttie Turh's-head Knot 



Fig. 23. 



One more knot, the Turk's-head (Fig. 23), 
remains to be described before we pass to the 
briefer subject of hitches. Take a long piece of 
fishing-cord, place the end a against the forefinger, 
wind the cord around the two fingers and hold it 
with the thumb, as in Fie- 21. 

Now with the other hand lay the part d over the 
part c, and while in that position pass the end a 
down between them, over the first crossing, under 



KNOTS, HITCHES, AND SPLICES. 



289 



left strand, up between, over second crossing, under 
right strand, up between ; take the hitch off your 
fingers, and it will be as in Fig. 22. 

Next pass the loose end through the opening 
d, laying it against the cord a\ then, with it, follow 
that strand {a) over and under, over and under, 
until you have a complete plait of three cords. 
Pass the knot over a stick to make it taut, and 
cut the ends close. 





Fig. 24. 
Two Ways of Fastening a Weight to a Line. 




Fig. 25. 
To Tie a Short Line, to 
which a Hook is At- 
tached, to a Longer or 
Ground Line. 



The Turk's-head knot, like the two preceding it, 
will tax your precision, deftness, and patience, and 
is an ornamental rather than a useful knot. 

The knots in Figs. 24, 25, and 26 explain them- 
selves ; they are often useful to picknickers and 
campers-out. 

Hitches are no less knots than any of the fore- 
going ; but they are knots used to fasten the end of 



2 go 



THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 



a rope to any object in such manner as to be easily 
cast off when no longer needed. They are few in 
number, and all very simple and easily described. 

A Blackwall hitch is merely a loop thrown about 
a hook, as in Fig. 27, in such a way that the main 
part of the rope, c, being pulled downward, the part 
a jams the part b against the hook so firmly that 
while the strain is kept up the knot cannot possibly 





Fig. 26. Fig. 27. 

To Fasten a Line Blackwall Hitch, 
to a Fish-Hooh. 



Fig. 29. 



Fig. 30. 
Tite Cloue Hitch. 



slip. Sailors use this hitch very frequently ; but it 
can be used on land as well as at sea. 

Of all hitches, however, the one which any man 
or boy can least afford not to know is the Clove 
hitch. Make two bights or loops, as in Fig. 29; 
hold them between the thumbs and forefingers at 
a, b; slide the left loop over the right loop ; then 
slip the double loop thus formed over the table-leg, 



KNOTS, HITCHES, AND SPLICES. 



291 



or anything that will represent a post, and draw 
tight by the end (Fig. 30). Practise this until your 
fingers can do it swiftly and of themselves, just as 
your tongue can say the alphabet ; for a Clove hitch, 
when it is used, needs to be made quickly and hand- 
somely. I once saw a young cadet from Annapolis, 
who had been out on a sailing-party with some 
ladies, and had jumped ashore with a rope, hesitate 





Fig. 31. 
Floating Spar. 



A Rolling Hitch. A Cat's-Paiu. 

Fig. 32. 



at least half a minute before he could think how to 
make the proper knot, while a number of old sea- 
captains sitting by were watching him and laughing 
among themselves. A Clove hitch may be used, 
too, when, while out fishing, you extemporize an 
anchor by tying a rope to a stone. And in Fig. 3 i 
you see again how this knot, c (with a half-hitch, y^ 
in front of it) , is used to tow a floating spar, or drag 
a piece of timber across the field. 



292 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

Two Other hitches, a Rolhng hitch and a Cat's- 
paw, are shown in Fig. 32. 

SpHcing is a process by which ropes are joined 
together so as to leave no knot. I appreciated its 
importance one morning when I saw an intelH- 
gent man of fifty work for an hour to spHce a ham- 
mock rope. Where it is not specially important 
that the joining be a very nice and smooth one, 
the "short" splice is used. It is made by passing 
the strands of one piece in and out between those 
of the other. The short splice always leaves the 
spliced part thicker and clumsier than the rest of 
the rope. If it is desirable that the joining be a 
very neat one, so as to admit of the rope's running 
readily through the sheave-hole of a block, the 
"long" splice is necessary. This is made by un- 
winding each end about two inches, placing the 
strands as in the short splice, then unwinding one 
strand farther back, and winding the corresponding 
strand of the other piece in its place ; proceeding in 
the same way with the other strands, and then fast- 
ening the ends in such a way that it is almost im- 
possible to detect the splice. We have not space 
to describe here the exact mode of procedure ; but 
there is scarcely a town or village anywhere but has 



KNOTS, HITCHES, AND SPLICES. 



293 



its " old sailor," and there is no old sailor anywhere 
but will be glad to come and give you a lesson 
in splicing. 

A splice that you can very easily learn for your- 
selves, however, is the Eye-splice. First make 
yourself a marling-spike, — if you have not the gen- 
uine article, — by whittling down to a point a piece 





Fig. 34. 



of hard wood. I have found that the half of a 
clothes-pin, so treated, answered the purpose ex- 
ceedingly well. Then take a piece of good three- 
strand rope, unwind the strands, and place them as 
you see, a, d, c, in Fig. 33. Open the strand d, and 
jjass a through it, as in Fig. 34 ; then open (\ and 
pass d over d and under e, as in Mg. 35. Turn the 
eye over. Fig. 36, open f and pass c through it, as 
in Fig. 2,1^ ^'"'<^1 P'^'ll the strands tight. Now pass a 



294 



THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 



over the strand next it, under the next one, and so 
on with the others. Proceed in the same way until 
the spHce is about an inch long. Then stretch the 
eye (holding by the rope), to tighten everything, 
and cut the ends close. If you will make a neat 






Fig. 35. 



Fig. 36. 



Fig. 37. 



Eye-splice all by yourself, and take It to the old 
sailor aforementioned, he will be sure to think it 
worth while to teach you all he knows ; and he will 
be likely to tell you many things about knots, 
hitches, and splices which are of necessity omitted 
here. 



SUMMER SPORTS. 



BY THE EDITOR. 



SUMMER at last. Briglit summer, glad summer, 
delightful summer, jolly summer, as different 
poets have called it. The sun lies warm on the 
open uplands, the breeze blows soft across the 
grassy valleys, the shady spots upon the edges of 
the rustling wood look cool and inviting; and so, 
out of the sun and into the shadow let us pass, 
accepting the invitation of still another famous 
poet — 

"Under the greenwood tree, 

Wlio loves to lie with me 

And tune his merry note 

Unto the sweet bird's throat. 
Come hither, come hither, come " — 

Rut what ! cry all our would-be athletes in chorus ; 
loll under the trees like cows and other cattle for 
sheer laziness and cud-chewing ? No, sir, not we. 
Summer means fun, and not loafing. It means the 

29s 



296 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

open air and the blue sky ; it means the freedom 
of street and park and meadow and seashore, and 
all the big playground that Mrs. Nature has laid 
out for the young people who seek her. So, sir, 
under no trees and into no shadows do we go 
while there are enough of us stirring to get up 
some jolly, good game, or take sides in some 
particularly favorite fun. 

I suppose there never was a nation, race, or peo- 
ple since first the earth was made, that did not 
have girls and boys who not only loved play, but 
did play, and with a will. The Eskimos of the 
frozen North, the Tupinambras of the Brazilian 
pampas, the gamins of the Paris streets, the boys 
and girls of London and Boston and New York, 
have in their nature one kindred tie, — the love of 
sport. 

But if there is any boy or girl who thinks that 
he or she has ever conceived, planned, or played 
a new game, let such consider well before claiming 
the right of invention. 

There is nothing new under the sun, said the 
wise man ; and especially is there nothing new in 
young folks' games. Archaeologists find well-be- 
loved dolls in Egyptian pyramids and on pre- 




^^:'ft.:...^ 



A Ghallenge, 



SUMMER Sl'ORTS. 299 

historic tombs ; the name of a popular ball-club 
was found scrawled upon the outer walls of Pom- 
peiian houses; and one of the most exciting base- 
ball matches on record was the one, stubbornly 
fought, between the rival nines of Montezuma, 
King of Mexico, and Nezahualpilli, 'tzin of Tezcuco. 
The boys of ancient Greece and Rome played at 
whip-top and quoits, and base-ball and pitch-penny, 
and blind-man's-buff and hide-and-seek, and jack- 
stones and follow my leader, just as do the boys of 
to-day ; the girls were experts at see-saw, and 
swinging and dancing, and grace-hoops and dice- 
throwing and ball-play, and, in Sparta, even at 
running, wrestling, and leaping. Tobogganing is 
as old as ice and snow ; and when you play at 
cherry-pits you are only doing what Nero and 
Commodus and young Themistocles did ages ago 
in Rome and Athens. 

So, whatever the age or clime, the boys and girls 
of the world have always lived more for play than 
anything else; and however harsh or hard their sur- 
roundings, however stern or strict their fathers and 
mothers, they always found and made the most of 
the time for play, and, more than any other season, 
the time for summer sports. 



300 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

These sports to-day are fast reducing- themselves 
into as many sciences, over-weighted with rules and 
restrictions, that often take the real play element 
from them, and make them as unyielding and sedate 
as a problem in algebra. 

Now, while rules and restrictions are undoubtedly 
necessary, there is such a thing as going too far; 
and I am inclined to believe that the boys and girls 
prefer to follow the cast-iron rules only to the verge 
of " cast-ironness," and make their sport, if less 
absolute, at least more jolly. There is no fun in 
making our sport a matter of life and death. 

I know grown people who, in these days of prize- 
giving in all manner of games, centre their whole 
desires, not on the fun of the game, but on the 
prizes offered. They really seem as disappointed 
if they do not carry off a trophy as if they had 
met with some serious loss. Let us take our fun 
with jollity or not at all. Interest is one thing, and 
irritability is quite another. 

So, whatever the game you are playing, re- 
member that the best of all rules is : Keep your 
temper. Life has plenty of shifting clouds with- 
out the necessity of quarrels over games ; disputes 
and bickerings have far too often broken up a 




'Tobogganing is as Old as Ice and Siiuw." 



SUMMER S PORTS. 303 

merry company, and spoiled the beauty of a sum- 
mer play-day. 

Now, while I fully realize that no new games 
are likely to supplant foot-ball, base-ball, or tennis 
in the favor of Young America, I do feeJ sure that 
there is left plenty of room for some such games 
as may be played by any number of young people, 
— boys or girls, — and without the necessity of 
having carefully prepared grounds. Croquet for- 
merly filled this want ; and golf, called by one en- 
thusiast " a sort of glorified croquet," is at present 
attracting a good deal of attention. But croquet 
has fallen more or less into disfavor, and golf can 
be played only in the open country. For this 
reason I am going to say just a word about one 
or two games which may be played almost any- 
where by any number of people. 

And in the first of these — the good old English 
game of bowls — the croquet balls which iiave been 
unused for several years may be made to do service. 

The "bowls" used in the scientific orame are 
peculiarly constructed, but for unprofessional sport 
the croquet balls will serve the purpose. The 
rules here given are for this unprofessional game, 
and are those pronounced by a very recent au- 



SUMMER SPORTS. 305 

thority on this attractive sport. Retain the sides 
chosen for your last game of croquet, and let the cap- 
tains choose for " first." The ground is marked off 
by a line at one end, and a small quoit is placed 
in the centre of a ring at the other. The game 
is commenced by the first player of the side win- 
ning the toss ; he endeavors to roll his ball as 
near as possible to the quoit, or tee as it is called. 
The first player on the other side then strives to 
roll his ball either closer to the tee than is that of 
his adversary, or, if that is not possible, to drive 
his opponent's ball away. If he fails to do either, 
then the second player of the leading side rolls his 
ball so as to guard the first player's ball from at- 
tack ; and so the game proceeds until all the balls 
have been rolled to the tee, when the side whose 
ball or balls are nearest to the tee scores an ace for 
each ball counting. Only the side to whoni be- 
longs the ball nearest the tee can count ; so, if the 
second nearest ball is an opponent's, the winning 
side can only count one. The winner of the game 
is the side which first scores twenty-one. Should 
a ball settle in the centre of the tee quoit, then 
the count is four, unless the ball be knocked off 
the quoit, either by an opponent's ball, or by a ball 



306 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

of the side which rolled it on the tee. These are 
the rules for a bowlino- court or field with one end. 
If two ends are laid out, two tees or quoits are set 
one at either end, and the contestants roll from each 
end alternately. 

One of the most fascinatinof in the whole list of 
summer sports is canoeing. There is, indeed, no 
reason why a boy who can swim should not paddle 
his own canoe without assistance or watching". 
Mr. John Habberton tells a story of offering a 
watch and chain to one of his boys if he could 
prove himself able to upset a canoe while sitting 
in the bottom. Mr. Habberton declares that he 
saved both the watch and the boy ; for the canoe 
could not be tipped over. 

Canoe-racing has perhaps injured quite as much 
as it has benefited the sport of canoe-cruising. 
The racers have devised improvements in model 
and in rig, of which the canoeists who do not race 
have taken advantage ; but they have contrived by 
their recklessness in carrying too much sail, and by 
the upsets which naturally follow, to foster a public 
impression that the canoe is a cranky craft. This, 
as may be learned from Mr. Habberton's experience, 
is not the case. 



si'mmp:k sports. 



307 



The regulation canoe is decked over, except 
where the small well-hole appears in the centre. 
Waves of ordinary size, therefore, cannot break 
over the coverings. 

The limited crew of a canoe should always sit 




The Canoeist's Landing. 



upon the bottom of the craft. The canoe, if thus 
handled, will be found remarkably free from rolling, 
and, being furnished with air-tight compartments, 
nearly as safe as an ordinary row-boat. 

It is difficult to fill or swamp a well-built and 
properly managed canoe, and it is impossible to 
sink her when full. She will outride any form of 



308 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

row-boat, and will live through a storm in which a 
small steam-launch will go down. 

The cost of a canoeist's outfit varies all the way 
from ten to four hundred dollars; but just as much 
fun and exercise can be had with a home-made affair 
or a cheap canoe as with the most elegant boat in 
the market, rich in polished mahogany and Spanish 
cedar, and glittering with silver-plating. 

Girls, as well as boys, make expert canoeists; and 
the sport is healthful, safe, and altogether delightful. 

As a capital game of strength and skill, played at 
many a jolly picnic and on many a shady stretch of 
lawn or level ground, the game of Quoits has for 
generations proved a source of interest, enjoyment, 
and friendly rivalry. 

Quoits is but a modern adaptation of the old 
Grecian game of Throwing the Discus. 

There is, however, this difference: the discus was 
a much heavier ring than is the modern quoit ; and 
the object of the old Greek game was to determine 
which discobolus had the stronger arm, and could 
throw his discus farthest. In Quoits the object is 
to place the quoit nearest a certain fixed point. 

The Iron rings are thrown at the pin, or " hob," 
placed from forty to sixty feet away. The object is 




The Quoit Thrower. 
(Co/>y of the Marble of the Discobolus of the I'atican.y 



SUMMER SPORTS. 3 I I 

to ring the hob, — a task rarely accom[)Hslied, — or 
to get as near to the hob as possible. 

Players may throw alternately, or sides may be 
chosen. Each player throws all his quoits ; and 
when all have been cast an investicration is made. 
If A (supposing him to have thrown three quoits) 
has placed his threes nearer the hob than has B, he 
counts three toward the total score. If one of his 
is nearest the hob, and B owns the next nearest, 
then A can count but one, no matter how closely 
to the hob his other quoits may lie. The same rule 
holds good in playing sides. 

When the count has been determined, the players 
stand at the hob first played at, and throw their 
quoits at a hob driven in at the starting-point. 
This alternate playing is continued until the full 
score has been made by one side or player. The 
total score is twenty-one. If a quoit rings the 
hob, — that is, completely encircles it, — the success- 
ful pitcher counts ten. 

The "science" in Quoits consists in careful 
throwing. Hold the flat side of the quoit down- 
ward, with the forefinger resting in the notch and 
the thumb on the upper side. Give the quoit a 
spinning motion with the forefinger, so that it will 



312 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

fall with its edge downward, cutting its way into the 
ground, with its flat side toward the thrower. The 
quoit may be best aimed by sighting the hob 
through the hole in the centre. Don't throw the 
quoit so that it will "wobble," and not stick in the 
ground, or so that its flat side is up. This last is 
sometimes counted as a dead quoit, and has no 
claim in the score. 

The throwers may grow tired before the game 
is over; but it is a "healthy tired" if the distances 
are not too great, and the sport is one fitted 
to strengthen the muscles and train the eyes of 
strong-limbed boys and girls. 

An exciting, though sometimes a rather rough 
game for the boys to play is " Ball in the Hole," or 
"Nine Holes" as it is sometimes called. The sim- 
ple description taken from the "American Boys' 
Book of Sports " fully describes a game that is as 
popular among the street-boys of New York as 
among the boys who have plenty of space and 
elbow-room in the open and breezy country. 

"Dig near a wall," says the " Boys' Book," "nine 
holes of about six inches in diameter and three 
deep. Let each player have one of these, accord- 
ing to his number, which must be determined by 



SUMMER SPORTS. 313 

lot. At about six yards from the holes draw a line ; 
and from this, as a fielding-place, one player pitches 
the ball into one of the holes. 

" The boy to whom this hole is assi<rnecl imme- 
diately rims to it, while all the players run oft in 
different directions. 

" The player snatches the ball from the hole, and 
throws it at one of the runners. If he hits him, the 
boy thus struck becomes the pitcher, and the one 
that struck him counts one. Should he not hit him, 
the player who throws the ball loses a point, and 
bowls. 

"The player who misses his aim at throwin*^ the 
ball at his partners a second time, becom(,'s a 
'tenner.' If he loses the third hit. he is a ' fif- 
teener ; ' if the fourth, he stands out and can play 
no more." 

When all the players are thus out, the last player 
remaining in wins the game ; and he can compel 
each of the losers to stand against the wall and be 
" peppered " by the successful player with the ball 
used in the game. This " peppering" should, how- 
ever, be done mildly, if at all ; for a victor should 
always remember to be moderate in his hour of 
victory. 



314 THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 

Moderation is good in all things — in summer 
sports as well as in winter work. But competition 
is also healthy ; and if there be thus a genuine, 
whole-souled attempt, on the part of all the boys 
who admire physical strength and prowess, to 
allow only the good and ennobling influences in 
their play to work upon their characters, then I 
am sure that they will be "backed up" and en- 
couraged by their elders in all the enthusiasm they 
show in that direction. 

Athletics, in one form or another, are nearly as 
old as history itself; and the present attempt, 
under the encouragement of several college pro- 
fessors, to revive the Olympic games in Greece, 
indicates that students of history realize there is 
something more to be gained by such a gathering 
than the mere settling of a disputed champion- 
ship. It rests, however, with the youth who en- 
gage actively in the contests to show what they 
are capable of doing in the strengthening of both 
body and character. 



INDEX. 



"Athlete," the word, ii. 

Athletics, the lessons of, 13; phys- 
ical benefits of, 14; evils of, 
16. 

Ball in the Hole, 312. 

Base -Ball: too professional, 33; 
planning for season's work, 34; 
training-time, 34; muscle devel- 
oping, 34; practice work, 35; 
base sliding, 36; coaching, 37; 
selecting the pitchers, 37; the 
cage, 37; batting, 37; Easter 
trip, 38; table diet, 39; base 
running, 40; batters' running, 
40; fearlessness, 40; infielders, 
41; playing ahead, 41; coach- 
ing, 41. 

Bicycles: need of good roads, 96; 
sidewalk riding, 97; politeness 
pays, 98; "scorching," 99; 
costumes for girls, icxj; cloth- 
ing, 108; the machine, 104; 
the cheapest of luxuries, 105. 

Boating (see CrciO 7'raiitin^). 

Bowls, 303. 

Boynton, Captain, 224. 

Bliss of Yale (foot-ball), 25. 



Butler, Dennis F. (swimmer), 194. 

Cane Rush: not brutal, 226; tiie 
ground, 228; the cane, 228; 
a hand, 228; signals, 228; the 
GladiatorDE, 228; the Robustae, 
228; the Avelli, 228; the Saltu- 
rae, 229 ; the Palaestrae, 229 ; 
costume, 230; the rush, 231; 
the scrimmage, 232 ; the decis- 
ion, 235; the prize, 236. 

Canoeing, 306. 

Copeland, A. F., hurdler, 243, 248. 

Crew Training: selection of men, 56; 
age of men, 57; training, 57; 
exercise, 58; gj'mnasium work, 
59; avoid overdoing, 60; food 
while training, 60; sleep, 63; 
regularity, 64; time of prepara- 
tion, 65; the stroke, 66, 68; 
shell-rowing, 66; the full reach, 
67, 69; the catch, 70; the 
shoot, 70; rowing, 71; the 
rowing machine, 72; lifting, 
holding, and backing, 73; the 
stroke oarsmen, 73; weight of 
crew, 73; trimming, 73; ob- 
jects of training, 73. 



315 



3i6 



THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 



Cricket : first game of, in America, 76; 
the field, 76; the pitch, 76; 
stumps, 77; bails, 78; bowler's 
crease, 78; the bat, 78; ar- 
rangement of game, 79; the 
bowler, 79; the batsman, 80; 
placing the field, 81 ; bowling 
and pitching, 81. 

Croquet, 303. 

Crosby of Harvard (foot-ball), 25. 

Dana, R. H., 186. 
Discus, the, 308. 

England and Australia Cricket Match, 
82. 

Foot-ball: how to develop a team, 
21; blocking and kicking, 22; 
team play, 23; blocking and 
getting through, 24; tackling, 
25; the tackle bag, 26; pass- 
ing, 26; a back's duties, 26; 
warding off, 29; self coaching, 
29; practice games, 30; team 
spirit, 30; "stars" no good, 
30; responsibility of each man, 
31; detail work, 31; signalling, 
32 ; a champion eleven, 32. 

German town Cricket Club, 82. 

Golf: popularity of, 88; exercise in, 
89; an all-the-year game, 89; 
space a requisite, 90; a full 
course, 90; the putting green, 
gfo; the teeing ground, 91; 
the ball, 91; the game, 91; 
"honor," 92; a round, 92; 
singles, 92; a foursome, 93; a 
moderate golf equipment, 93. 



Gymnastics: benefits of, 146; fresh 
air the chief tonic, 146; an out- 
of-door "gym," 147; the 
Charlesbank, 147; class drill, 
148; the giant stride, 1 50; the 
neck developer, 151; the medi- 
cine ball, 151; the spring board, 
152; the buck, 152; the tilting 
ladder, 152; the Jacob's ladder, 
154; the " razzle dazzle," 154; 
a home gymnasium, 156; tra- 
peze bar, 157; rings, 158; hori- 
zontal bar, 158; jumping stand- 
ards, 162; vaulting-horse, 162. 

Habberton, John, on canoeing, 306. 

Hare and Hounds: the hares, 122; 
the hounds, 122; the master, 
122; the scent, 122; the route, 
122; prizes, 123; an ideal 
course, 123; the break; 125; 
endurance, 127. 

Harvard Batting Team of '91, 37. 

Haverford College, cricket at, 87. 

Hand-in-Hand Skating (see Skat- 
ing). 

Hawks, Lord (cricket), 82. 

Hitches (see Knots, Hitches, and 
Splices'). 

Hurdling: requirements for, 116; 
the spring, 117; distances, 117; 
the hurdles, 1 18; strides, 118; 
description of, 238; elements 
of a good hurdler, 241 ; striking 
the hurdles, 244; handicap 
races, 246, 249; " mug-hunt- 
ers," 247; the "scratch" man, 
248, 250; the " scratch " races, 
250; the intercollegiate con- 
tests, 250. 



INDEX. 



317 



Interscholastic tournaments, value 
of, 48. 

Jordan, A. A., the hurdler, 244. 

Jump, the Running Broad: the 
jumping path, 252; the jumping 
foot, 252; number of strides, 
253; the marks, 253; the take- 
off, 254; a foul, 254; the jump, 
255; landing, 256; caution anil 
advice to jumpers, 257; train- 
ing, 258. 

Knots, Hitches, and Splices, 280; 
a square knot, 281; becket 
knot, 281; bowline, 252; single 
wall and double wall, 282; 
boatswain's whipping, 283; 
stopper knot, 283; sheepshank, 
284; true-lover's knot, 285; 
jar sling, 285; Turk's head, 
286; hitches, 289; Blackwall 
hitch, 290; clove hitch, 290; 
rolling hitch and cat's paw, 292; 
splicing, 292; the eye splice, 
293- 

Lake of Harvard (foot-ball), 29. 

Lawn Tennis: not so easy as it 
looks, 43; value of tournaments, 
48; choice of rackets, 50; balls, 
51; a good stroke, 51; length 
of court, 52; fast service, 52; 
the volley, 52 ; hitting and 
" smashing," 55; odds, 55. 

Longwood Cricket Club, 87. 

Manheim Cricket Grounds, 85. 
Mapes, of Columbia (hurdling), 238. 
Moderation in sport, 314. 
" Mug-hunters " (see Hurdling^. 



Newell of Harvard (foot-ball), 24. 
Nine Holes (see Ball in the I/cle). 

Olympic Games, revival of, 314. 
Over-training, 17. 

Pancratium (see Cane A'us/i). 
Paper Chase (see Hare and Hounds^. 
Pedestrian Exercise (see Walking). 
Philadelphia, the home of American 

Cricket, 81. 
Prize-giving in "sports," 300. 

Quoits: the pin, 308; the hob, 308; 
science in, 311. 

Roberts, Mr., Y. M. C. A. Gymna- 
sium (Boston), 151. 

Running: long legs not needed, 
107; heart must be strong, 108; 
dashes, 109; training, 109; 
sprinting, 1 1 1 ; positions, 1 1 1 ; 
styles of starting, 1 12; the 
scratch, 112; style of running, 
116. (See ytimp and Hurd- 
ling. ) 

Running Broad Jump, The (see 
Jump). 

St. Paul's School, cricket at, 87. 

Sears, F. R. (tennis), 45. 

Skating: first lessons in, 259; plain 
forward movement, 259; the 
rolls, 260; cutting the Derby (or 
left over right), 263; cutting 
the crab, 264; figure of three 
and of eight, 264; the rosette, 
265; scissors, 265; grapevine 
twist, 265; Virginia fence, 265; 
on to Richmond, 265; hand-in- 
hand skating, 267; hockey 



i8 



THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS. 



Skating, continued. 

skating, 268; speed skating, 
268; figure skating, 268; hand- 
in-hand figures, 269; the Mer- 
cury (forward and backward), 
270, 277; backward cross-roll, 
270, 275; the Dutch roll, 272; 
the flying Mercury, 278; double 
Mohawks, Q scuds, and rocking 
turns, 278; skate-fastenings and 
foot-gear, 279. 

Sliding machine for base-ball, 36. 

Splices (see Knots, Hitches, and 
Splices^. 

Stagg of Yale (base-ball), 36. 

Summer Sports, 295 ; antiquity of, 
296; rules and restrictions in, 
300. 

Surrey and Nottinghamshire Cricket 
Match, 82. 

Swimming: confidence essential, 
190; secret of a good stroke, 
191; dog-fashion, 192; the 
breast stroke, 192; side stroke, 
193; right-hand, left-hand, and 
overhand stroke, 193 ; back per- 
formances, 194; diving, 195; 
under-water swimming, 196; 
treading water, 199; other feats, 



200; precautions, 201 ; a tub 
race, 203; a water circus, 206; 
water polo, 213; water shoes, 
223. 

Tennis (see Laivn Tennis^. 
Trafford of Harvard (foot-ball), 29. 
Tub Race, A (see Switnming) . 

University of Pennsylvania, cricket 
at, 87. 

Walking: value of, 128; time of a 
walking trip, 129; arranging 
route, 130; outfit, 131; cloth- 
ing, 133; size of party, 137; 
eating, 138; out-of-door sleep- 
ing, 140; routes suggested, 143; 
have an object, 145. 

Water Circus, A (see Swimming'). 

Water Polo (see Swimtning) . 

Water Shoes (see Siviinming). 

Winter of Yale (foot-ball), 25. 

Yachting: the compass, 166; tak- 
ing a bearing, 173; keeping the 
course, 174; management, 175; 
fair-weather sailing, 176; in an 
emergency, 176; sea-terms, 179- 
186; starboard and port, 187- 
i8q. 



